This is because, on weekends, they are waking up at a time that is later than their internal body clock expects. Students who stay up late on school nights and make up for it by sleeping late on weekends are more likely to perform poorly in the classroom.College students who pull “all-nighters” are more likely to have a lower GPA.College students with medical-related majors are more likely to have poorer quality of sleep in comparison to those with a humanities major.College students with insomnia have significantly more mental health problems than college students without insomnia.Students with symptoms of sleep disorders are more likely to receive poor grades in classes such as math, reading and writing than peers without symptoms of sleep disorders.Sleepiness and poor sleep quality are prevalent among university students, affecting their academic performance and daytime functioning.Other recent studies outline the adverse effects of poor sleep among students with regards to their success in school: Thus, there is ample evidence to indicate that the lack of adequate nighttime sleep can lead to disturbances in brain function, which in turn, can lead to poor academic performance.” “In the student-age population, studies have found that factors such as self-reported shortened sleep time, erratic sleep/wake schedules, late bed and rise times, and poor sleep quality have been found to be negatively associated with school performance for adolescents from middle school through college. “There are data that sleep loss leads to learning and memory impairment, as well as decreased attention and vigilance,” says Dr. Kushida adds that the importance of obtaining adequate sleep in the student-age population cannot be overemphasized. However, key factors affecting sleep quality, such as the major sleep disorders (e.g., obstructive sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome), are less prevalent in this age group compared to middle-aged or older individuals.”ĭr. For the student-age population, sleep quantity and quality issues are both important. “To take it one step further, there are two primary factors that affect the degree of daytime alertness: sleep quantity and sleep quality. “If the individual is routinely tired or sleepy during the daytime, odds are that he or she is not getting enough sleep,” says Dr. Kushida, MD, PhD, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University Medical Center, an attending physician at the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic, director of the Stanford University Center for Human Sleep Research and a member of the AASM board of directors, notes that the degree of daytime alertness is arguably the most sensitive measure as to how much sleep is necessary for the specific individual. Students getting adequate amounts of sleep performed better on memory and motor tasks than did students deprived of sleep.”Ĭlete A.

New research also highlights the importance of sleep in learning and memory.

“After two weeks of sleeping six hours or less a night, students feel as bad and perform as poorly as someone who has gone without sleep for 48 hours. “Recent studies have shown that adequate sleep is essential to feeling awake and alert, maintaining good health and working at peak performance,” says Dr.

Lawrence Epstein, MD, medical director of Sleep Health Centers in Brighton, Mass., an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a past president of the AASM and a member of the AASM board of directors, says that sleep deprivation effects not only whether a student can stay awake in class but how they perform as well.

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the best way to maximize performance on final exams is to both study and get a good night of sleep. Among the reasons for these changes in sleeping patterns are increased part-time working hours, pulling all-nighters to finish a paper or cram for an exam, and watching television at bedtime. Unfortunately, research is increasingly showing that more and more students are not getting enough sleep, which can have a negative impact on their grades. With the semester drawing to a close, millions of college students are preparing to take their final exams.

Guiding Principles for Industry Support.

Young Investigators Research Forum (YIRF).

Accredited Sleep Technologist Education Program (A-STEP).

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants (APRN PA).

Dont sleep until you succeed