Abstract
BackgroundYoung adults are likely to have activities and go to bed late at night due to their age-dependent delayed endogenous circadian clock. The purpose of the present study was to clarify sleep–wake rhythm and its association with lifestyle, health-related quality of life, and academic performance among nursing students.MethodsSelf-reported questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate nursing students at six universities in Japan. Sleep–wake rhythm was assessed using the morningness-eveningness questionnaire. A quantitative design using the generalized linear mixed effect model was utilized to identify the factors related to the evening type among female nursing students (n = 447).ResultsAbout 18% of the participants were identified as the evening type. Evening type was associated with living alone, part-time job, and club activity. Sleep duration on weekdays was shorter, meal time duration was the shortest, and the percentages of students who skipped meals and those who gained body weight were higher in the evening type than in the morning type and intermediate type. Mental health-related quality of life was lower in the intermediate type and evening type than in the morning type, while there was no difference in physical health-related quality of life among these groups. The percentages of the nursing students who have experienced absence, tardiness, falling asleep during class, and/or interference with academic achievement were higher in the evening type than in other groups.ConclusionsThe present study has important implications for nursing students’ biological characteristics and lifestyle, which are associated with their health-related quality of life and academic performance.
Highlights
Young adults are likely to have activities and go to bed late at night due to their age-dependent delayed endogenous circadian clock
Among the students with evening type, the percentages of the students who lived alone, those who had part-time job, or those who engaged in part-time job after 10 p.m. were higher, and the percentage of the students who had an excise habit and/or club activity was lower than that of the morning type and intermediate type
Chronotype and health-related quality of life / academic performance Mental health-related quality of life was lower in the intermediate type and evening type than in the morning type, while there was no difference in physical healthrelated quality of life among chronotype groups (Table 5)
Summary
Young adults are likely to have activities and go to bed late at night due to their age-dependent delayed endogenous circadian clock. University students are likely to have activities and go to bed late at night due to their age-dependent delayed endogenous circadian clock (i.e., late chronotype) [1], school work, extracurricular activities, club activities, or part-time jobs. They are forced to wake up early controlled by the social clocks (e.g., early-morning classes or early-morning practice in club activities). Previous studies have reported that these sleep problems are negatively associated with mental health [5], health-related quality of life [6, 7], and academic performance [8, 9] in the young population. Being a late chronotype should be regarded as a risk factor for health problems and daytime functioning in this age group
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