Sleep quality and sleepiness in college students

Background and Aim: Sleep is fundamental for the development of the individual, arousing interest in investigating the quality of sleep in higher education students. The aim of this study was to characterize the components of subjective quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness in a sample of higher education students. Method: The Portuguese versions of the Quality Sleep Index (PSQI-PT) and of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were applied to 257 college students in seven higher education institutions. Results: Participants subjectively reported poor sleep quality and sleeping more than seven hours during the week, but at the weekend the value was higher. The perception of sleep latency and dysfunction during the day differed according to the participants' gender. The Working College students showed to perceive bad Subjective Sleep Quality and a smaller Sleep Duration. It was found a small statistically significant correlation between subjective sleep quality (PSQI-PT) and daytime sleepiness (ESS). Although most of the participants of the sample perceived bad sleep quality, the majority also revealed a sleep efficiency higher than 85.0%. Conclusions: Study participants subjectively assessed sleep quality as poor. Future studies should explore possible prevention programs (i.e., diet, ICT, physical exercise) to improve subjective sleep quality.