Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Nature and Science of Sleep

Publisher

Dove Medical Press

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

31427

Comments

Batten, R., Liddiard, K., Raynor, A. J., Brown, C. A., Stanley, M. (2020). Cross-sectional survey of sleep practices of Australian university students, Nature and Science of Sleep. 2020(12), 39—48.

https://doi.org/10.2147%2FNSS.S221472

Abstract

Background and Aim: Sleep insufficiency is often associated with the life of a university student, yet it is well known that inadequate sleep can have a negative impact on physical and mental health and be detrimental to cognitive skills for learning. The aim of this study was to replicate a Canadian study to survey university student sleep practices, the way in which students address any sleep issues, and the students’ preferred method to receive targeted sleep information. Methods: An anonymous on-line survey was promoted to all enrolled students at one Australian University in August 2017. Results: In total, 601 students responded to the survey. One third indicated that they had insufficient sleep (less than 6.5 hrs). Almost two thirds reported a perception of not getting sufficient sleep. There was a significant association between the reported number of sleep hours, and the perception of high-quality sleep. Strategies to get to sleep included the use of social media which is counter to best practice in sleep hygiene. Conclusion: The study supports the need for education about sleep health coupled with stress management to better the demands of student life.

DOI

10.2147%2FNSS.S221472

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License

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