Past Issues

Objective: We investigated sleep quality and perceived state of health among
university male students. Methods: We distributed 460 copies of two sets of questionnaire
(the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] and a scale of perceived state
of health) to male freshmen at a public university in Taiwan. After eliminating invalid
and incomplete questionnaires, we collected 410 valid questionnaires, producing
a recovery rate of 89.13%. Results: Among background variables, “part
time work conditions” (p < 0.001) and “extracurricular studies or tutoring jobs” (p
< 0.01) were found to have signifi cant infl uenced on sleep quality. Credit hour load
(p < 0.01) and perceived state of health (p < 0.01) were signifi cantly and positively
correlated with sleep quality. Background variables could be used to effectively
predict sleep quality and to explain 21% of total variance. Credit hour load hour (p
< 0.001) was the most signifi cant predictor of sleep quality, followed in descending
order by part time work conditions (p < 0.001), extracurricular studies and tutoring
jobs (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Credit hour load hour was found to be a signifi -
cant factor of infl uence on sleep. Students can effectively enhance their sleep
quality by striving for a healthy balance between their existing course load and
their part time work, extracurricular studies, and tutoring jobs.