Prevalence and factors associated with sleep quality among undergraduate students at the college of health sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Abstract

Background: Sleep is an indispensable necessity of humankind, imperative for sustaining the quality of life and well-being of all ages. Poor sleep is proven to have an impact on students’ academic endeavors and general health. Even though some university students are conversant with health repercussions associated with poor sleep quality, a substantial proportion fail to prioritize sleep health over their academic tasks or deem their health to be at risk. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with sleep quality among undergraduate students at the College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi. Methodology: An institutional analytic cross-sectional study was carried out at the College of Health Sciences. A stratified random sampling technique was employed with strata being the schools. A Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory was used to measure sleep quality. Out of the 378 participants, 245 were interviewed through a tablet device-based questionnaire running on the Open Data Kit (ODK) application and the remaining 133 students completed an online questionnaire (SurveyMonkey). Descriptive statistics, correlations, bivariate, and multivariate binary logistic regression were performed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 at p <0.20 and p <0.05 level of significance, and a 95% confidence interval. Results: Out of the 378 participants the majority were females (57.1%) and 42.9% were males. The prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5) was 80% among undergraduate students, whereas good sleep quality was 20%. In an adjusted multivariate analysis, factors that were significantly associated with poor sleep quality were perceived stress [AOR:3.15; 95% Cl: (1.43, 6.91); p = 0.004], room air quality [AOR: 2.32; 95% Cl: (1.08, 5.01); p = 0.0031], and sleep hygiene [AOR:1.08; 95% Cl: (1.03, 1.14); p = 0.002]. Conclusion: Findings from this study demonstrated an alarming prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5) 80 percent among undergraduate students. This study has shown a significant correlation between perceived stress, sleep hygiene, and sleep quality which suggests that sleep hygiene practices and stress coping strategies should be considered as a potential influence on enhancing good sleep quality. The modifiable risk factors such as perceived stress, sleep hygiene, and room quality were considered potential risks for poor sleep quality. Recommendations: To improve sleep quality among undergraduate students at the College of Health Sciences, the University should develop sleep hygiene education programs as an intervention and prevention strategy. To alleviate high stress, students should equip each other with better relaxation techniques such as Yoga, meditation, and extracurricular activities and manage their time properly to attain optimal sleep quality and academic functioning.