ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Sleep is an essential and universal biological process that plays a crucial role in maintaining overall health and well-being including development, energy conservation, brain waste clearance, modulation of immune responses, cognition, performance, vigilance, disease, and psychological state. To meet up with daily interest, students often tend to sacrifice some sleep time, without considering its subsequent dangerous effect. Unfortunately, they are usually faced with the consequences of sleep deprivation such as impairment in neurocognitive functions, psychomotor activities, and sleepiness. OBJECTIVES: To assess the knowledge, attitude, quality, and determinants of sleep among undergraduates of University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The study was carried out among undergraduates of University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state from December 2022 to December 2023. A multi-stage sampling technique was utilized to select 410 participants for the study. Data was collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 25.0 and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. Data was presented using prose, frequency tables, and Piecharts. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics and Research Committee, University of Benin Teaching Hospital. RESULT: A total of 410 respondents was used for this study with Mean age ± SD 21.95 ± 2.850 years. A higher proportion, 225 (54.9%) of the respondents were male and only 48 (11.7%) of respondents were aware of sleep quality, primarily through the Internet. A significant portion of respondents 289 (70.5%) demonstrated good knowledge of sleep with xiii knowledge increasing with age below 30years (χ 2=18.129; p-value < 0.001), highest in medicine (χ 2=97.752; p-value < 0.001), sixth year of study (χ 2=98.659; p-value < 0.001). Majority, 263 (64.1%) of respondents expressed a positive attitude towards sleep, and the relationship with the following was statistically significant : highest in those aged between 26 – 30years (χ 2=18.129; p-value <0.001) , in Denstistry and medicine (χ 2=74.251; p-value <0.001), and sixth year of study (χ 2=33.343; p-value <0.001). More than half, 235 (57.3%) of all respondents had poor sleep quality and there was a statistically significant association between the respondents age (χ 2=30.064; p-value <0.001), department (χ 2=55.424; p-value <0.001), level (χ 2=58.272; p-value <0.001), monthly allowance (χ 2=19.273; p-value=0.001). Respondents aged 16-20 years, those in philosophy and 100 level were more likely to have good sleep quality. Predictors of good sleep quality were age of respondents, having a positive attitude, monthly allowance, level and department. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study showed that overall, the respondents had poor knowledge of sleep, good attitude towards sleep, poor sleep quality and determinants include age, department, and level of respondents.
