Sleep deprivation and its associated factors among undergraduate students in Malaysia

• Main Authors: Naito, Rika, Low, Wah Yun, Choo, Wan Yuen
• Format: Article
• Published: SAGE Publications 2021
• Subjects: R Medicine (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/27592/
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

This cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of sleep deprivation and its associated factors among 1017 undergraduate students in Malaysia. Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol, dietary habits, Internet/smartphone use, physical activity, and sedentary behavior were assessed. Sleep deprivation was defined as sleeping less than 7 hours in a day. There were almost equal proportions of females (51.0%) and males (49.0%), and the average age was 20.71 +/- 1.47 years. Prevalence of sleep deprivation was 58.1% and its associated factors were students in Year 3 (adjusted odds ratio AOR] = 0.52, 95% confidence interval CI] = 0.35-0.77) and Year 4 (AOR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.45-0.95), Chinese ethnicity (AOR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.34-0.59), Indian ethnicity (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.25-0.96), and consuming fast food more than once a week (AOR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51-0.93). Understanding the associated lifestyle factors with sleep deprivation among young generation will be beneficial to develop public health policies and programs to tackle the issue.