A Study on the Sleep Patterns and Problems of University Business Students in Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective: To investigate sleep patterns and problems of university business students. Participants: Undergraduate Chinese business students in Hong Kong. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were completed during class lectures and through online system. Results: Of the 620 participating students (mean age 19.9 years), sleep duration was significantly shorter during weekdays (6.9 hours) than weekends (8.6 hours). Two thirds of students reported sleep deprivation. The following factors were associated with being a “poor sleeper” (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index > 5): attending early morning lectures (odds ratio [OR] = 1.90), living on-campus (OR = 1.89), Sleep Sufficiency Index less than 0.8 (OR = 2.55), sleep debt (differences of total time-in-bed between weekday and weekend ≥ 75 minutes) (OR = 1.58), and minor psychiatric disturbances (OR = 2.82). Conclusions: Poor sleep quality and sleep deprivation were prevalent in university business students in Hong Kong, especially for those attending early morning lectures and living on-campus. Systemic education on the importance of sleep and stress and time management is needed for university students.

Keywords:

• sleep deprivation
• sleep quality
• university business students

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We thank Mandy Yu and Shirley Li for their help with logistics, the professors and the students in the Faculty of Business and Administration for their participation. The present study was conducted for a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirement for MSc programme in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the first author.

Notes

*p < .05;

**p < .01;

*p <.05;

**p <.01;

***p <.001.

*p < .001.

*p < .01.