Abstract
Background: Sleep is a foundational pillar of physical health, crucial for emotional well-being and cognitive functioning. University students are mainly vulnerable to sleep problems due to academic burdens, lifestyle ups and downs, unbalanced sleep timetables, and increased stress. Poor sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and unsuitable use of sleep medications may negatively disturb academic routine and overall well-being.
Objective: This study investigates sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, and usage of sleep medication among undergraduate students.
Material Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 280 undergraduate students at the Peoples University of Medical & Health Sciences for Women (PUMHSW) in Nawabshah. Utilizing Stratified random sampling. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire. And analyzed using SPSS version 25.Frequency, percentage, as descriptive statistics.
Results: The mean age of participants was 21.48 ± 12.31 years. Most students (73.9%) had good sleep efficiency (>85%), while 26.1% demonstrated moderate to poor sleep efficiency. Sleep disturbances were common, with 74.3% of students experiencing mild sleep disturbance and 20.4% experiencing moderate sleep disturbance. Participants frequently reported insomnia symptoms, specifically nocturnal awakenings, sleep fragmentation, and sleep related discomfort., Most students (83.6%) reported no sleep medication use. only 12.5% used medication less than once a week, with a small proportion reporting regular use. prescribed sleep medication was used by (8.9%) of participants, while (6.1%) used over-the-counter options, indicating minority usage for both.
Conclusion: Sleep disturbances are predominant among undergraduate university students despite the common having adequate sleep efficiency. Although the use of sleep medication was low, a significant number of students experienced disturbed sleep patterns that may impact their educational performance and health. These findings highlight the need for sleep capability education and non-pharmacological interventions to help healthy sleep behaviors among university students.