Comparison of pain, posture, physical activity and sleep quality of undergraduate and graduate students of health sciences

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate pain, posture, levels of physical activity, and sleep quality in undergraduate and postgraduate students along with determine how educational differences affect these parameters.A cross-sectional study. This study conducted with the participation of 60 undergraduate, 58 graduate students. The Short-Form McGill pain questionnaire was used to assess pain, the New York Posture assessment for posture assessment, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to determine physical activity levels, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale to determine sleep quality. A total of 118 participants (mean age =24.07 years, 72.9% women) were included in the study. Posture and the low IPAQ score had significant differences between undergraduate and graduates (p<0.05), whereas pain, IPAQ total score, and sleep quality were similar (p>0.05). When the literature is briefly mentioned, there are general studies about university students, but it was not clear how the undergraduate and postgraduate status of the students affected the health related factors. Therefore, based on the results of this study, necessary evaluations and improvements should be made regarding the risk factors faced by the students, taking into account the pain, posture, physical activity levels, and sleep quality of undergraduate and postgraduate students.