Abstract
Background
Sleep quality has a significant impact on the physical and mental health of the young population.
Study aim
To evaluate sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and use of sleep medication among university students in Jordan and to examine differences in these problems in relation to selected demographic and health-risk behaviors.
Methods
The study used a cross-sectional design and a multi-stage sampling technique. Three public universities were randomly selected from three major governorates in Jordan. The Arabic version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to measure sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and the use of sleep medication. Descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze the data.
Results
Of 1308 students who participated in the study, 27% reported sleep efficiency less than 85%, 45% of the students reported nocturnal awakening, 30% reported getting up to use the bathroom, and 9% reported using medication to help sleep. Differences in sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and use of sleep medication were found in relation to students’ gender, income, marital status, smoking status, and academic achievement.
Conclusions
Poor sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and the use of sleep medications are significant problems affecting sleep quality among university students. Students’ gender, marital status, income, smoking status, and academic achievement are important factors associated with sleep quality.
Implications
Sleep screening among university students is required to identify and provide treatment for sleep problems. Furthermore, educating university students about the effects of smoking on health in general and on sleep in particular should be mandated.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hershner SD, Chervin RD (2014) Causes and consequences of sleepiness among college students. Nature and science of sleep 6:73
Kobayashi D, Takahashi O, Deshpande GA, Shimbo T, Fukui T (2012) Association between weight gain, obesity, and sleep duration: a large-scale 3-year cohort study. Sleep and Breathing 16(3):829–833
Gaultney JF (2010) The prevalence of sleep disorders in college students: impact on academic performance. Journal of American College Health 59(2):91–97
Patel M, Tran D, Chakrabarti A, Vasquez A, Gilbert P, Davidson T (2008) Prevalence of snoring in college students. Journal of American College Health 57(1):45–52
Buysse DJ, Reynolds CF III, Monk TH, Berman SR, Kupfer DJ (1989) The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry research 28(2):193–213
Reed DL, Sacco WP (2016) Measuring sleep efficiency: what should the denominator be? Journal of clinical sleep medicine 12(02):263–266
Corrêa CDC, Oliveira FKD, Pizzamiglio DS, Ortolan EVP, Weber SAT (2017) Sleep quality in medical students: a comparison across the various phases of the medical course. Jornal Brasileiro de Pneumologia 43(4):285–289
Lemma, S., Patel, S. V., Tarekegn, Y. A., Tadesse, M. G., Berhane, Y., Gelaye, B., & Williams, M. A. (2012). The epidemiology of sleep quality, sleep patterns, consumption of caffeinated beverages, and khat use among Ethiopian college students. Sleep disorders, 2012.
Jehan S, Myers AK, Zizi F, Pandi-Perumal SR, Jean-Louis G, Singh N, Ray J, McFarlane SI (2018) Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Sleep medicine and disorders: international journal 2(5):127–133
Mallampalli MP, Carter CL (2014) Exploring sex and gender differences in sleep health: a Society for Women’s Health Research Report. Journal of women’s health 23(7):553–562
Ficker JH, Wiest GH, Lehnert G, Meyer M, Hahn EG (1999) Are snoring medical students at risk of failing their exams? Sleep 22(2):205–209
Medeiros ALD, Mendes DB, Lima PF, Araujo JF (2001) The relationships between sleep-wake cycle and academic performance in medical students. Biological Rhythm Research 32(2):263–270
Tariq SH, Pulisetty S (2008) Pharmacotherapy for insomnia. Clinics in geriatric medicine 24(1):93–105
Zhang B, Wing Y-K (2006) Sex differences in insomnia: a meta-analysis. Sleep 29(1):85–93
Vargas PA, Flores M, Robles E (2014) Sleep quality and body mass index in college students: the role of sleep disturbances. Journal of American College Health 62(8):534–541
Grandner MA, Patel NP, Gehrman PR, Xie D, Sha D, Weaver T, Gooneratne N (2010) Who gets the best sleep? Ethnic and socioeconomic factors related to sleep complaints. Sleep medicine 11(5):470–478
Chong, Y., Fryar, C. D., & Gu, Q. (2013). Prescription sleep aid use among adults: United States, 2005-2010: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and ….
Research, M. F. f. M. E. a. (2019). Sleep aids: understand over-the-counter options. from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/sleep-aids/art-20047860
Shehnaz SI, Khan N, Sreedharan J, Issa KJ, Arifulla M (2013) Self-medication and related health complaints among expatriate high school students in the United Arab Emirates. Pharmacy practice 11(4):211–218
Lohsoonthorn V, Khidir H, Casillas G, Lertmaharit S, Tadesse MG, Pensuksan WC, Rattananupong T, Gelaye B, Williams MA (2013) Sleep quality and sleep patterns in relation to consumption of energy drinks, caffeinated beverages, and other stimulants among Thai college students. Sleep and Breathing 17(3):1017–1028
Prevention, C. f. D. a. (2017). Defining adult overweight and obesity. from https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html
Suleiman KH, Yates BC, Berger AM, Pozehl B, Meza J (2010) Translating the Pittsburgh sleep quality index into Arabic. Western Journal of Nursing Research 32(2):250–268
IBM Corporation. (2012). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, V. N. I. C. (2012).
Taylor DJ, Bramoweth AD (2010) Patterns and consequences of inadequate sleep in college students: substance use and motor vehicle accidents. Journal of Adolescent Health 46(6):610–612
Sing C, Wong WS (2010) Prevalence of insomnia and its psychosocial correlates among college students in Hong Kong. Journal of American College Health 59(3):174–182
Mahfouz MS, Ageely H, Al-Saruri SM, Aref LA, Hejje NH, Al-Attas SA, Bani I (2013) Sleep quality among students of the faculty of Medicinein Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 16(4):508–513
Lund HG, Reider BD, Whiting AB, Prichard JR (2010) Sleep patterns and predictors of disturbed sleep in a large population of college students. Journal of Adolescent Health 46(2):124–132
Sweileh WM, Ali IA, Sawalha AF, Abu-Taha AS, Sa’ed HZ, Al-Jabi SW (2011) Sleep habits and sleep problems among Palestinian students. Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health 5(1):25
Alkaid Albqoor, M. (2017). Serious psychological distress and self-rated health of Arab immigrants in the United States. UCSF.
Yousef A-MM, Al-Bakri AG, Bustanji Y, Wazaify M (2008) Self-medication patterns in Amman, Jordan. Pharmacy World & Science 30(1):24–30
Lemma S, Berhane Y, Worku A, Gelaye B, Williams MA (2014) Good quality sleep is associated with better academic performance among university students in Ethiopia. Sleep and Breathing 18(2):257–263
Gilbert SP, Weaver CC (2010) Sleep quality and academic performance in university students: a wake-up call for college psychologists. Journal of college student psychotherapy 24(4):295–306
Gomes AA, Tavares J, de Azevedo MHP (2011) Sleep and academic performance in undergraduates: a multi-measure, multi-predictor approach. Chronobiology International 28(9):786–801
Alapin I, Fichten CS, Libman E, Creti L, Bailes S, Wright J (2000) How is good and poor sleep in older adults and college students related to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and ability to concentrate? Journal of psychosomatic research 49(5):381–390
Mirghani, H. O., Mohammed, O. S., Almurtadha, Y. M., & Ahmed, M. S. (2015). Good sleep quality is associated with better academic performance among Sudanese medical students. BMC research notes. Retrieved 1, 8
Funding
This study was funded by Deanship for Scientific Research—The University of Jordan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
I confirm that the authors meet the authorship and are in agreement with the content of the manuscript
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethics approval
Ethical approval, including Institutional Review Board (IRB), was obtained from the University of Jordan Ethical Committee. Students who agreed to participate in the study signed an informed consent form that illustrated the study purpose, that participation in the study was voluntary, and students’ right to withdraw from the study any time.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Albqoor, M.A., Shaheen, A.M. Prevalence and differences in habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and using sleep medication: a national study of university students in Jordan. Sleep Breath 25, 1127–1134 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02174-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-020-02174-2