Sleep Quality Among University Students: Evaluating the Impact of Smoking, Social Media Use, and Energy Drink Consumption on Sleep Quality and Anxiety
Materials and Methods
A cross sectional survey was done among 290 university students of different majors in American University of Sharjah and Gulf Medical University, Ajman in the UAE from September 2011 to March 2012
Data was collected using a standardized, pre-tested questionnaire.Sleep quality was assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The PSQI is a reliable instrument to quantify sleep quality during the previous month. It consists of 19 self-rated questions and five questions related by the bed partner or roommate (if one is available).
Only self-rated questions are included in the scoring. The 19 self-rated items are combined to form seven “component” scores, each of which has a range of 0-3 points. In all cases “0” indicates no difficulty, while a score of “3” indicates severe difficulty.The sum of scores for these seven component yields one global score, with a range of 0-21 points, “0” indicating no difficulty and “21” indicating severe difficulties in all areas.
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The seven components of the PSQI are standardized versions of areas routinely assessed in clinical interviews of patients with sleep/wake complaints.
These components are: Subjective sleep qualities, Sleep onset latency, Sleep duration, Habitual sleep efficiency, Sleep disturbances, Use of sleeping medication, Daytime dysfunction.
The questionnaire included demographic characteristics which include age, gender, weight and height, study major. Subjects were asked to estimate their weight and height to determine their body mass index (BMI). Questions about smoking, stimulant drink, exercise, and social networking too were asked. Questions were also asked on the consequences of sleep deprivation such as missing morning classes due to oversleep, having a car 'near' accident due to not sleeping well, and feeling anxious due to not sleeping well.
Data was collected after the approval from the Research Ethics Committee of the GulfMedicalUniversity.Verbal consent was taken from the students before filling up the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the SPSS-19. 'Chi- square' test was done to examine differences between categorized variables and ‘t- test' was done to compare the mean scores.
Results
The study subjects comprised 298 participants of whom 64% were females, 36% males. The ages ranged from seventeen to twenty nine years.
Table 1. Sleep Quality among different universities, age groups, and gender
|
Good sleep |
Bad sleep |
Total |
|||||
|
No. |
Advertisement % |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
p value |
|
|
UNIVERSITY |
|||||||
|
GMU |
38.0 |
31.1 |
84.0 |
68.9 |
122.0 |
100.0 |
0.350 |
|
AUS |
57.0 |
33.9 |
111.0 |
66.1 |
168.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
Total |
95.0 |
32.8 |
195.0 |
67.2 |
290.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
GENDER |
|||||||
|
Male |
36.0 |
34.3 |
69.0 |
65.7 |
105.0 |
100.0 |
0.380 |
|
Female |
59.0 |
31.9 |
126.0 |
68.1 |
185.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
Total |
95.0 |
32.8 |
195.0 |
67.2 |
290.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
AGE |
|||||||
|
19 and younger |
26.0 |
33.8 |
51.0 |
66.2 |
77.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
20-23 |
48.0 |
28.7 |
119.0 |
71.3 |
167.0 |
100.0 |
0.090 |
|
24 and older |
21.0 |
45.7 |
25.0 |
54.3 |
46.0 |
100.0 |
|
|
Total |
95.0 |
32.8 |
195.0 |
67.2 |
290.0 |
100.0 |
|
Table 1 shows that there is no significantdifference between males and femalesin their Sleep Quality. Nevertheless, both the genders had many individuals with sleeping problems. Studentsabove 24 years of age seem to have the least sleeping disturbances. More people within the 20-23 age groups suffer from sleep disturbances than in the other age groups, while it is almost equal between the two genders among teenagers.
Table 2. Sleep quality in the study subjects
|
Sleep Quality |
Frequency |
Percent |
|
Good sleep |
95 |
32.8 |
|
Bad sleep |
195 |
67.2 |
|
Total |
290 |
100.0 |
Overall the sleep quality for the entire group was bad, as seen in Table 2
Table 3. Sleep Quality among smokers and duration of social networking
|
|
Good Sleep Quality |
Bad Sleep Quality |
P Value |
||
|
% |
No. |
% |
No |
||
|
SMOKING |
N=289 |
||||
|
Yes |
15 |
25.4 |
74.6 |
79 |
0.192 |
|
No |
44 |
34.3 |
65.7 |
151 |
|
|
Total |
94 |
32.5 |
67.5 |
195 |
|
|
SOCIAL NETWORKING |
N=290 |
||||
|
None |
7 |
50.0 |
50.0 |
7 |
0.242 |
|
<30 minutes |
25 |
30.1 |
69.9 |
58 |
|
|
1-2 hours |
28 |
28.0 |
72.0 |
72 |
|
|
>2 hours |
35 |
37.6 |
62.4 |
58 |
|
|
Total |
95 |
32.8 |
67.2 |
195 |
|
|
STIMULANT DRINKING |
N=288 |
||||
|
Yes |
46 |
28.6 |
71.4 |
47 |
0.128 |
|
No |
115 |
37.0 |
63.0 |
80 |
|
|
Total |
93 |
32.3 |
67.7 |
195 |
|
Although there wasa higher percentage of smokers having sleeping disturbances when compared to non-smokers, the results were not significant.
There is a noticeable increase in the percentage of users of social networking sites and energy drink users having sleep disturbances. However the result is not statistically significant.
Table 4. Sleep Quality among students with classes missed, sleeping during classes, car accidents, feeling anxious
|
Good Sleep Quality |
Bad Sleep Quality |
P value |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
||
|
Classes Missed |
N=286 |
0.014 |
|||
|
None |
58 |
61.7 |
80 |
41.7 |
|
|
1-2 |
15 |
16.0 |
55 |
28.6 |
|
|
3-5 |
10 |
10.6 |
26 |
13.5 |
|
|
>5 |
11 |
11.7 |
31 |
16.1 |
|
|
Total |
94 |
100 |
192 |
100 |
|
|
Classes Slept in |
N=286 |
0.017 |
|||
|
Yes |
27 |
29.0 |
84 |
43.8 |
|
|
No |
66 |
71.0 |
108 |
56.3 |
|
|
Total |
93 |
100 |
192 |
100 |
|
|
Car Accidents |
N=283 |
0.079 |
|||
|
Yes |
10 |
10.8 |
36 |
16.3 |
|
|
No |
83 |
89.2 |
154 |
81.1 |
|
|
Total |
93 |
100 |
190 |
100 |
|
|
Feeling Anxious |
N=284 |
0.001 |
|||
|
Yes |
32 |
34.8 |
121 |
63.0 |
|
|
No |
60 |
65.2 |
71 |
37.0 |
|
|
Total |
92 |
100 |
192 |
100 |
|
Table 4 shows thatmost of the students who never missed any morning classes, or never slept during classes have significantly good sleep quality.
A significant proportion of students who have had bad sleep quality felt anxious during the day(Chi square test p=0.001).Continued on Next Page »