Sleep Quality and Its Correlation with General Health in Pre-university Students of Karaj, Iran

Sleep quality affects on physical and psychological well being and even academic functions of students. Indeed, sleep quality has been suggested as an individual index of general health. Among adolescents and young adults, poor sleep quality is common. The aim of this survey was to determine the sleep quality and its correlation with general health in 18-year-old Iranian students. Methods: Simple random sampling was used to select 1000 students from all of the Karaj non-private preuniversity schools for this cross sectional study. These students were asked to complete two self-report questionnaires; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and General Health Questionnaire-28. Nine hundred and forty three students were entered into the final analysis. Results: Poor sleep quality and poor general health were observed in 56% and 42% of participants, respectively. In both of them the difference between boys and girls was significant (P 0.05). Poor general health was noticed in 55% of students with poor sleep quality. Also, there were a positive correlation between sleep quality and general health. Conclusion: The prevalence of poor sleep quality in Iranian pre-university students is higher than that of many other countries. Further researches are required for finding the etiology. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (IJPBS), Volume 3, Number 1, Spring and Summer 2009: 44-49 .