Predictors of poor sleep quality among Lebanese university students: association between evening typology, lifestyle behaviors, and sleep habits

Abstract

Adequate, good night sleep is fundamental to well-being and is known to be influenced by myriad biological and environmental factors. Given the unavailability of sleep data about Lebanon, the cultural shifts and socioeconomic pressures that have affected many aspects of society, particularly for students and working adults, as well as our understanding of sleep in university students in other countries, we conducted a national study to assess sleep quality and factors contributing to sleep and general health in a culture-specific context. A self-filled questionnaire, inquiring about sociodemographics, health-risk behaviors, personal health, and evaluating sleep quality and chronotype using standard scales was completed by 540 students at private and public universities in Lebanon. Overall, they reported sleeping 7.95±1.34 hours per night, although 12.3% reported sleeping <6.5 hours and more than half scored in the poor-sleeper category on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Sleep timing differed markedly between weekdays and weekends, with bedtimes and wake-up times delayed by 1.51 and 2.43 hours, respectively, on weekends. While most scored in the “neither type” category on the Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), 24.5% were evening types and 7.3% were morning types. MEQ score was significantly correlated with smoking behavior and daily study onset, as well as with PSQI score, with eveningness associated with greater number of cigarettes, later study times, and poor sleep. We conclude that the prevalence of poor sleep quality among Lebanese university students is associated with reduced sleep duration and shifts in sleep timing between weekdays and weekends, especially among evening types. While chronotype and certain behavioral choices interact to affect sleep dimensions and quality, raising awareness about the importance of obtaining adequate nighttime sleep on daily performance and avoiding risky behaviors may help Lebanese students make better choices in school and work schedules.

Basic Scale on Insomnia complaints and Quality of Sleep (BaSIQS): Reliability, initial validity and normative scores in higher education students

“…The percentages of good/poor sleepers found in sample 2 according to the PSQI and the mean overall PSQI score (see instruments section) were similar but systematically lower compared to those reported in many other studies with university student samples (Carney et al, 2006;Cheng et al, 2011;Clegg-Kraynok et al, 2011;Kabrita et al, 2014;Lemma et al, 2012Lemma et al, , 2013Lund et al, 2010). This suggests that sample 2 does not over represent poor sleepers, so it is not biased in in this sense.…”

Sleep Duration and Sleep Patterns in Chinese University Students: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

“…The pooled mean sleep duration was 7.08 h/d, which is within the range (6.4-7.9 h/d) reported in other countries. [39][40][41][42] The variation between different studies could be partly attributed to the discrepancy in socioeconomic and cultural factors, sampling methods, and measurements. Although the mean sleep duration was within the standard recommended range of 7 to 9 h/d, 34 the proportion of students with less than 6 hours sleep duration was 8.4%, which is higher than the corresponding The proportion of students with sleep duration less than 7 h/d was 41.3% (95% CI: 35.0% to 47.9%), which is higher than the corresponding figure (33.4%) in a study in Chinese adults.…”

Investigation of Sleep Quality and Sleep Disorders in Students of Medicine

“…It has been shown that academic efficiency diminishes with increased excessive daytime sleepiness (OR = 0.86, 95% CI= 0.75 and 0.98). Kabrita et al [37] have investigated sleep quality on 540 students in state and private universities in Lebanon. Mean night sleep has been found as 7.95 ± 1.34.…”