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Why Are Undergraduate Students Sleepy and Sleep Deprived?

SIM�?ES, Giovanna Caldeira, SOARES, Carolina Ferraz de Paula

Sleep problems are an increasingly prevalent health condition in modern society and studies have shown that university period is a landmark for sleepiness and poor sleep quality. These sleep changes could be responsible not just for poor academic performance, but also be the cause of health issues, especially mental diseases. Sleep deprivation in university students arises from multiple factors. In this study we aimed to describe social aspects, academic workload and the correlation between daytime sleepiness and the quality of sleep between students of different academic degrees.

This research analyzed the correlation between the levels of daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale - ESS), sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI) and academic workload and applied a sociodemographic questionnaire to university students. The sample (mean age: 22.2 years, SD=4.4) was made up of 55 students of law, 107 of civil engineering and 167 of medicine. The results of the average daytime sleepiness, researched using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale was 11.5 points (SD= 4.8) in Law, 10.5 (SD= 4.1) in Civil Engineering and 11.1 (SD= 4.1) in Medicine, as the quality of sleep, investigated with the Pittsburgh Index, the results were 8.7 (SD=2.6), 7.1 (SD=2.8) and 8.6 (SD=3.1), respectively. There were no significant differences in sleepiness (f=1.1; p>0.05) between courses, but in sleep quality there were significant differences (f=8.1; p<0.00). It was shown that the workload and sleep quality were not correlated in the Law (r=-0.05; p>0.05), Civil Engineering (r= 0.09; p>0.05) and Medicine (r=0.17; p>0.05).

In our sample, we found poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness, regardless of degree and the workload required by it. Besides the discrepancies of workload and work activities our findings reinforce the idea that the cause of somnolence, poor sleep and sleep deprivation is multifactorial and highly prevalent in undergraduate students.