Sleep patterns of college students at a public university

Objective: The authors' purpose in this study was to determine the sleep patterns of college students to identify problem areas and potential solutions. Participants: A total of 313 students returned completed surveys. Methods: A sleep survey was e-mailed to a random sample of students at a North Central university. Questions included individual sleep patterns, problems, and possible influencing factors. Results: Most students reported later bedtime and rise times on weekends than they did on weekdays. More than 33% of the students took longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep. and 43% woke more than once nightly. More than 33% reported being tired during the day. The authors found no difference betweem freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors. and graduate students for time to fall asleep. number of night wakings. or total time. slept each flight. Conclusions: Many students have sleep problems that may interfere with daily performance, such driving, and academies. Circadian rhythm management, sleep hygiene, and white noise could ameliorate sleep difficulties.