Evaluation of Sleep Quality and Physical Activity Levels of University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate the sleep quality and physical activity levels of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted on 128 volunteer students who were studying at Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, Vocational School of Health. The data was collected online through the socio-demographic data form, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ). The average PSQI score of the students was 8.87±3.47 with 81.3% of the students having poor sleep quality and 18.8% of the students having good sleep quality. The total physical activity score was 1259.73±2183.33 (MET-Min/week). The percentage of students who had no vigorous physical activity was 80.5% and while 59.4% did not do moderate physical activity, and 5.5% did not have adequate walking activity. About 53.1% of the students were not physically active, 32% had low physical activity, and only 14.8% had adequate physical activity. COVID-19 pandemic has had several adverse effects on students' sleep quality and physical activity levels. During the pandemic, we think that students had difficulty forming regular biological rhythms, especially sleep and physical activity, due to various reasons such as concerns about education, quarantine and social isolation. In order to reduce the negative effects of the disease by keeping the immune system strong, necessary information and guidance should be made about quality sleep and adequate physical activity.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• sleep quality
• physical activity
• quarantine
• circadian rhythm

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