Sleep and physical activity characteristics in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A descriptive cross-sectional wrist actigraphy study

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic impactedro a people's physical and mental health and affected countless individuals globally. University students are a subgroup that might be sensitive to changes as they are experiencing major life transition entering adulthood. The aim of the study was to objectively investigate the free-living sleeping patterns, clock times and physical activity (PA) characteristics of Icelandic university students during the pandemic, including exploring gender differences and the association between sleep and PA.

Methods

Free-living sleep and PA were measured with wrist actigraphy (Actigraphy GT3X+) for one week in 76 first year (24.4 ± 3.5 years) students (females 43 %). Unpaired t-tests were used for gender comparisons and linear regression was used to evaluate the association between sleep and PA.

Results

On average students went to bed at 01:41 h (±78 min) and woke up at 09:05 h (±96 min). Females spent more time in bed, slept longer, and went to bed and rose earlier than males (all p's<0.05). No association was found between weekly PA counts and sleep duration, quality, variability, or social jetlag. However, a correlation between PA counts and bedtimes over the entire week was detected.

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 pandemic university students slept less than recommended and demonstrated a late sleep schedule. Among male and female students, differences in sleep and PA patterns were found. Earlier bedtimes correlated with higher PA counts could highlight the importance of good sleep hygiene, especially when considering future pandemics or personal hardship, since PA has many other positive effects on overall health.