Sleep patterns and quality during summer and academic year among female university students.

Objectives: To measure sleep patterns and quality during summer vacation and weeks 1-4 of the academic year among female university students.

Methods: This retrospective prospective cohort study included female students at a university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Participants were recruited with convenience sampling and completed questionnaires online. The questionnaire asked about 5 occasions using the Sleep Quality Scale (SQS) and about their sleep schedule during summer vacation and weeks 1-4 of the academic year.

Results: There were 385 participants. The number of students who slept before midnight increased over time from n=127 (32.9%) students during vacation to n=172 (44.6%) students in week 4 (p<0.001). The average sleep hours decreased from 8.97 (standard deviation (SD)=2.6) hours during summer to 7.01 (p<0.001, SD=2.7) hours in week 4. Students reported poorer sleep quality during the academic year, particularly in week 1 (p=0.023), than summer. Students reported higher satisfaction with sleep during summer vacation (n=97; 25.2%) than week 1 (n=38; 9.9%) and week 4 (n=36; 9.4%) (p<0.001). Students experienced daytime fatigue and tiredness (n=79; 20.5%; p=0.002) and low concentration in week 4 (n=79; 20.5%; p<0.001) compared to summer.

Conclusion: In the studied population, multiple sclerosis was the most prevalent cause of ON. Women were more likely to have ON. The prognosis for eyesight was substantially connected with the length of ON.