Publication:

Sleep quality and its association with academic performance amongst students in colleges of health technology, Akure, Ondo State

Background Sleep constitutes a fundamental physiological phenomenon characterized by its intricate nature, whereby both the corporeal and cognitive domains undergo restorative processes for approximately eight hours each day.

Methods It was a cross-sectional descriptive study which employed a multistage sampling method to recruit the study participants. A semi constructed questionnaire was distributed to assess the research questions. Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) was used to measure the academic performance while Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) was used to assess the sleep quality.

Results Less than half of the students reported having good sleep quality (47%), while over half experienced poor sleep quality (53%). A significant number of students (49.5%) had lower credit grades, which may be attributed to the fact that nearly half of them had two to four carried-over courses from the previous semester. Factors that were associated with sleep quality are smoking (p=0.006), snoozing during lecture hours (p=0.036), taking coffee (p=0.0026) and using mobile phone before sleep (p=0.009).

Conclusions This study underscores the link between sleep quality and academic performance among students at colleges of health technology. Notably, mobile phone usage before sleep was identified as a significant factor affecting both sleep quality and academic performance. It is recommended that Implementation of practical measures such as counseling services or adjustments to academic schedules to enhance sleep quality among students.