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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2022; 15(04): 399-406
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20220070
ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Lifestyle factors associated with poor sleep quality among undergraduate dental students at a Malaysian private university

Authors

  • Hasnah Hashim

    1   AIMST University, Faculty of Dentistry - Bedong - Kedah - Malaysia

  • Jiong Sen Ng

    2   Parit Baru Dental Clinic, Sabak Bernam - Selangor - Malaysia

  • Jin Xuan Ngo

    3   Presinct 18 Dental Clinic, Putrajaya - Federal Territory of Putrajaya - Malaysia

  • Yong Zhi Ng

    4   Pasir Pinji Dental Clinic, Ipoh, Kinta - Perak - Malaysia

  • Balaraman Aravindkumar

    1   AIMST University, Faculty of Dentistry - Bedong - Kedah - Malaysia
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Objective The purpose of this study was to look into the associations between lifestyle factors, gender, clinical level, and sleep quality among undergraduate dental students at a private university in Malaysia.

Material and Methods A self-administered Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI) scale and the lifestyle and habits questionnaire-brief (LHQ-B) were used in this cross-sectional study. A global PSQI score of greater than 5 indicates poor sleep quality. All university dental students were invited to take part. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the data.

Results A total of 338 students took part in the study, with a response rate of 90.4%. The proportion of females was higher (68.3 %) and more than half of the respondents (56.7 %) were in their clinical years. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 36.7%. At multivariable level, poor sleep quality was associated with being male (OR=1.72 [95% confidence interval (1.05, 2.83)] and engaging in an unhealthy lifestyle for psychological health (OR=2.64 [95% confidence interval (1.34, 5.21)] and nutrition (OR=2.48 [95% confidence interval (1.028, 4.82)].

Conclusion The prevalence of poor sleep quality among undergraduate dental students in our study was comparable to that found in other studies. Male students were more likely to have poor sleep quality than female students. Our findings indicate that poor sleep quality (PSQI score >5) may be linked to unhealthy lifestyle habits related to psychological health and nutrition. Health education that emphasizes these domains is essential for improving their lifestyle habits and sleep quality.

Students - Dental - Sleep - Lifestyle - Malaysia

Funding

The authors received no funding from any external source.




Publication History

Received: 09 July 2021

Accepted: 22 February 2022

Article published online:
01 December 2023

© 2023. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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