title: Sleep patterns and disorders among university students in Lebanon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Insufficient sleep is a significant public health issue with adverse medical consequences. Sleep disturbances are common among university students and have an effect on this group's overall health and functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate sleep habits and disorders in a population of university students across Lebanon.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study carried out in 2012 among 735 students aged 18-25 yrs. old, enrolled at six universities across Lebanon. The Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality and habits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Less than half of the total study population (47.3%) were good sleepers (PSQI<5). Upon bivariate analysis, males experienced more sleep difficulties than females (57.8% vs. 40.8%). The majority (60%) of males vs. 40% of females had trouble performing daily activities more than once per week (P=0.02). Results of the multivariate analysis revealed that reporting poor sleep quality was strongly associated with daytime dysfunction and sleep- enhancing medication use especially more than once per week.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to describe the nature of sleep problems among university students in Lebanon. This study suggests that sleep problems among Lebanese college students were common and such problems may interfere with daily performance. Findings from this study have important implications for programs intended to improve academic performance by targeting sleep habits of students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology-Neuroscience, Faculty of Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Shafika
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Assaad
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. christycostanian@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Christy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, La Croix Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Fida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tannous
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006184:Habits; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012890:Sleep; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Lebanon; PSQI; Sleep deprivation; Sleep disorders; University students