International Journal of Adolescence and Youth

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Prevalence of sleep disorders among university

students and its impact on academic performance

Asma Ali Al Salmani, Asma Al Shidhani, Shatha Saud Al Qassabi, Shahad

Ahmed Al Yaaribi & Aysha Muslem Al Musharfi

To cite this article: Asma Ali Al Salmani, Asma Al Shidhani, Shatha Saud Al Qassabi, Shahad
Ahmed Al Yaaribi & Aysha Muslem Al Musharfi (2020) Prevalence of sleep disorders among
university students and its impact on academic performance, International Journal of
Adolescence and Youth, 25:1, 974-981, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.2020.1815550

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2020.1815550

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa

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Group.

Published online: 02 Sep 2020.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE AND YOUTH
2020, VOL. 25, NO. 1, 974–981
https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2020.1815550

Prevalence of sleep disorders among university students and its

impact on academic performance
Asma Ali Al Salmanib, Asma Al Shidhanib, Shatha Saud Al Qassabi c
,
Shahad Ahmed Al Yaaribia and Aysha Muslem Al Musharfia
a
College of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman; bDepartment of Family Medicine and
Public Health, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman; cFamily medicine training program, Oman Medical
Specialty Board

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Sleep disorders can have a critical effect on health and academic perfor­ Received 7 July 2020
mance. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and academic impact Accepted 19 August 2020
of various sleep disorders on university students by gender. This cross- KEYWORDS
sectional study was conducted between May and September 2019. The Sleep disorders; students;
prevalence of sleep disorders was assessed using the validated SLEEP-50 gender; GPA; academic
Questionnaire. Overall, 637 university students participated in the study performance
(response rate: 100%); of these, 368 (57.8%) were female and 455 (71.4%)
were > 20 years old. A total of 433 students (68.0%) had grade point
averages (GPAs) of 2–3, whereas 20 (3.1%) had GPAs of < 2. The most
common sleep disorders were narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, insom­
nia, and obstructive sleep apnoea, whereas sleepwalking and nightmares
were infrequent. Sleep disorders were significantly associated with low
GPA among female students. University students are at risk for sleep
disorders, with such disorders associated with decreased academic per­
formance among females.

Introduction
Sleep disturbances are a common complaint among college students worldwide, likely as a result of
stress due to increased academic demands (Pascoe et al., 2020). Moreover, busy schedules, new
social opportunities, and a sudden change in sleeping environment can be additional contributing
factors (Haile et al., 2017). Both the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep
Medicine consider insufficient sleep to pose a serious risk to adolescents and young adults (American
Medical Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2010; National Sleep Foundation, 2006),
with sleep deprivation also having a significant impact on the health, wellbeing, and academic
performance of this particular group (Gaultney, 2010; Haile et al., 2017).
Various studies have aimed to estimate the prevalence of sleep disorders among college students.
In particular, insomnia, restless leg syndrome (RLS), circadian rhythm disorders (CRDs), affective
disorders, narcolepsy, and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) are frequently reported in college stu­
dents (Gaultney, 2010; Haile et al., 2017; Piro et al., 2018). Previous studies have found the prevalence
of insomnia to be approximately 69% among college students (Abdalqader et al., 2018; Sing & Wong,
2010). Other disorders, like CRDs (19.6%), affective disorders (14.5%), nightmares (6.6%), sleepwalk­
ing (5.7%), and narcolepsy (1.3%), are less frequently identified (Piro et al., 2018).
However, varying prevalence rates of sleep disorders have been reported among college stu­
dents. Notably, these disorders have been found to vary according to gender, socioeconomic status,

CONTACT Shatha Saud Al Qassabi Shathaalqassabi@gmail.com

© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.
0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
980 S. S. AL QASSABI ET AL.

(p < .001) (Reisi et al., 2017). In another study, 26% of students who were at a high risk of CRDs had
a significantly greater risk of failing academically (p < .01) (Gaultney, 2010).
Nevertheless, it is possible that the gender difference observed in our study with regards to the
impact of sleep disorders on academic performance may be due to the fact that females were
overrepresented in the sample. Furthermore, women are generally more likely to be prone to certain
sleep disorders and depression; in addition, GPA can be affected by a multitude of other factors,
including substance abuse, time management skills, and social health (Piro et al., 2018). These factors
can also affect the prevalence of sleep disorders, with certain individuals being more prone to
sleepwalking and affective disorders.
On the other hand, previous researchers have also noted a significant gender discrepancy in
academic performance (Gaultney, 2010). Moreover, previous studies have indicated that females
tend to be more affected by sleep complaints compared to men; this has been attributed to the
increased frequency among women of other conditions affecting sleep, such as stress and depres­
sion (Nogueira et al., 2018; Piro et al., 2018).

Conclusion
The current study found that a number of university students were at a high risk of sleep disorders.
Moreover, among female students, risk of sleep disorders was significantly linked to reduced
academic performance in the form of low GPA; however, the same was not true for male students.
Educational administrators should find ways to help identify and treat students at risk of sleep
disorders so as to mitigate or limit the effect of these disorders on reduced academic performance.
However, further research is required in this field. Future studies are recommended and should
assess the implementation of measures to prevent such disorders.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors
Asma Ali Al Salmani, Senior specialist - Family physician, Department of family medicine and public health, Sultan
Qaboos university Hospital.
Asma Al Shidhani, Senior specialist - Family physician, Department of family medicine and public health, Sultan Qaboos
university Hospital.
Shatha Saud Al Qassabi, Family medicine resident, Oman Medical Specialty Board.
Shahad Ahmed Al Yaaribi, Medical student- college of medicine, Sultan Qaboos University.
Aysha Muslem Al Musharfi, Medical student- college of medicine, Sultan Qaboos University.

ORCID
Shatha Saud Al Qassabi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9484-0059

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