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Napping in college students and its relationship with nighttime sleep
Lichuan Ye1, Stacy Hutton Johnson, Kathleen Keane
1a William F. Connell School of Nursing , Boston College , Chestnut Hill , Massachusetts.
Unlabelled:
Abstract.
Objective:
To examine the habit of napping and its relationship with nighttime sleep in college students.
Participants:
Four hundred and forty undergraduate students who responded to an anonymous online survey in April 2010.
Methods:
Three questions were asked to determine the frequency, length, and timing of napping during the past month. Sleep quality was measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).
Results:
The PSQI score significantly differed among self-reported nap-frequency (p=.047) and nap-length (p=.017) groups, with those who napped more than 3 times per week and those who napped more than 2 hours having the poorest sleep quality. Students who napped between 6 and 9 pm had shorter sleep on school nights compared with students in other nap-timing groups (p=.002).
Conclusions:
College students who are self-reported frequent, long, and late nappers may have a higher risk of poor nighttime sleep quality and more severe sleep deprivation.
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