Background: Several factors cause mental stress during a pandemic where academic life is uncertain. This stress may cause a change in healthy behavior. Sleep is one of the important aspects and is deranged with physical or mental stress.
Aim and Objectives: With this background, we conducted this study with university students to know the level of stress and sleep pattern and to find any correlation between them.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational online survey study was conducted in Bhubaneswar, Odisha with 100 university students during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The stress was assessed with the COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ) and subjective sleep was assessed by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI). Both the questionnaires were in English and were having Likert-type response options. The survey data were analyzed by Statistical test by GraphPad Prism 6.01 software package.
Results: Among the participants, 66% had high stress, 24% had moderate stress, and 10% had low stress. The sleep quality analysis showed that 76% of students were having poor sleep and 24% had good sleep. There was a positive correlation between the CSSQ and PSQI score (r = 0.45, P < 0.0001). This indicates a strong correlation between stress and sleep quality.
Conclusion: During a pandemic like the current COVID-19 pandemic, university students suffer from a high level of stress and disturbed sleep. Hence, to restore the wellbeing of the students, a proper sleep hygiene practice should be promoted that may eventually help reduce stress. On the other hand, proper information regarding academic progress and defined assessment methods may help reduce academic stress and promote good sleep.
Key words: COVID-19; Universities; Sleep Hygiene; Pandemics; Sleep Quality; Students; Odisha
|
