Introduction

Sleep is a period of inactivity and restoration of mental and physical function.^[1]Quality sleep is an indicator of good health as it relieves stress and normalizes body tissues. Hence, its deprivation is linked with various diseases.^[2] The situation is so grave that sleep related problems are second leading cause of people’s reference to health care centres.^[3]

In Ayurvedic classics, Ahara, Nidra and Brahmacharya are mentioned as Trayopasthambha (Sub pillars of life).^[4] According to Acharya Charaka, a person goes to sleep when the mind along with the sensory and motor organs are exhausted and they separate themselves from their objects.^[5]Happiness or misery, nourishment or malnourishment, strength or weakness, potency or impotency and sexual urge, knowledge, orientation of surrounding, activeness of brain or disorientation and sluggish senses; life or death depends on sleep; therefore, one should take proper sleep at proper time.^[6]In present times, insufficient sleep and disturbed sleep have become common problems in young students.^[7] Numerous factors that affect the sleep quality in young generation are increased screen time, stress, and poor sleep hygiene such as maintaining variable sleep and wake times, consuming caffeine late at night, smoking, drinking alcohol before bed and attempting to sleep in noisy environment.^[8]

Nation’s youngsters are its greatest resource for future social and economic development, so their healthcare is top priority. In order to address this, it is necessary to measure and evaluate the sleep patterns of college going students and how these related to other issues.

Aim and Objective

To find out the sleep quality among young college students in Bhopal city.

Materials and Methods

Source of Data:

This cross-sectional study was carried out as a pilot study in month of July & August 2024 on 30 college going students of age group between 17-24 years from different government / private colleges of Bhopal City.

Individuals with score of less than 5 were supposed to have good sleep quality and those with more than 5 to have poor sleep quality.

Data analysis:

From the questionnaire data were collected, calculated and presented in number and percentage.

Observations and Results

In this pilot study 30-college going student were interviewed and their health status was analysed.

Table 1: Age and Gender Wise distribution of subjects:

Age and Sex: In this study, in the age group of 17-20 years maximum 26.6% were male and 16.65%were Female and in the age group of 21-24 years maximum 53.3% were female and 3.33% were male. (Table no.1)

Table 2: Socioeconomic status activity wise distribution of subjects:

Socioeconomic status: Maximum 56.6% were middle Socioeconomic status and 20% were Lower middle socioeconomic status,13.3% were Upper middle socioeconomic status and 10% were lower socioeconomic status. (Table no.2)

Table 3: Religion wise distribution of subjects.

Religion: Maximum 70% were Hindu and 30% were Muslim. (Table no.3)

Yoga: Maximum 50% were not doing Yoga and 30% were doing weekly Yoga and only 20% were doing Yoga 2-3times in a week. (Table no.8)

Table 9: Mobile use (Duration) wise distribution of participants:

Mobile use (Duration): Maximum 60% were using for >4 hrs, 26% were using for 2 hrs and 13.3% were using for 3hrs. (Table no.9)

Table 10: Mobile use before going to bed wise distribution of participants.

Mobile use ((before going to bed): Maximum 93.3% were using Mobile before going to bed and 6.66% were not using Mobile before going to bed. (Table no.10)

Table 11: Duration of screen time weekdays wise distribution of participants:

Duration of screen time weekdays: Maximum 86.6% had >2hrs Screen time, 13.3% had <2hrs Screen time. (Table no.11)

Table 12: Sleep Timming wise distribution of participants.

Sleep Timming: All students (100%) had a sleep after 10 PM. (Table no.12)

Table 13: Sleep Wake up Timming wise distribution of participants.

This suggests that sleep disturbances and poor sleep hygiene are prevalent among the college students. Moreover, the fact that no students reported "very good" sleep quality highlights the overall suboptimal sleep health. We made a unique observation in terms of mobile use. Maximum 60% students are using mobile devices for >4 hours daily and 93.3% were using the mobile before bedtime. 86% students have overall screen time >2hrs. This excessive screen time, particularly before bedtime, could be a contributing factor to the poor sleep quality observed and suggest that mobile use may be a widespread behavior affecting sleep patterns. Late sleeping hours, with just, no one students were going to bed between 8pm-10pm is expected to disturbed circadian rhythm in due course of time and lead to associated problems.^[10]

Further research might explore this finding in more detail to understand the underlying causes and effects more comprehensively.

Conclusion

The results of the present study showed that, the prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQ) was notably high among students, highlighting the need for widespread interventions. It is essential for students to adopt healthy sleep habits and minimize the use of electronic devices to ensure timely and high-quality sleep. Maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm is crucial, and restricting screen time before bedtime can further enhance sleep quality.

Limitation

Due to the small sample size of the pilot study and area specific study the accuracy of results cannot be determined.

Recommendations

Future research should involve a larger and more diverse group of college going students from various regions.

References