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.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2020
Publication Title
Nature and Science of Sleep
Publisher
Dove Medical Press
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
31427
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
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