Lifestyle, sleep quality, and overall mental health of nursing students

Abstract

Introduction: Lifestyle is often a decisive factor influencing both, somatic health and mental health. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of life, sleep quality and general mental health of nursing students. Material and method: The study used the diagnostic survey method. The study was cross-sectional. A questionnaire was used, which was made available to the respondents via the Internet. The survey included the demographic questionnaire, the Fantastic Life Inventory, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). A total number of 165 nursing students (151 female and 14 male), aged from 19 to 53, participated in the study. All calculations were made using version 24 of the SPSS statistical package. Results: The general mental health of students, as measured by the GHQ-30 scale, was quite good – the mean score on the GHQ30 scale – M = 9.21 (SD = 7.80). The average lifestyle quality index in the Fantastic Life Inventory Scale (M = 34.99; SD = 6.19) indicated a high quality of lifestyle. As many as 81% (N = 134) of the respondents followed the principles of rational nutrition and consumed a balanced diet, 92% (N = 152) did not abuse alcohol, 86% (N = 142) did not smoke, 93% (N = 154) had never used other psychoactive substances. However, 57% (N = 94) of respondents did not undertake physical activity or undertook it on an insufficient level. Most of the subjects experienced sleep disturbances, the most common being difficulty falling asleep – 78.8% (N = 130), and waking up during the night or early in the morning – 70.3% (N = 116). Conclusions: The quality of lifestyle and general mental health of the respondents was good. A significant influence of the quality of life on the occurrence of mental health disorders has been demonstrated.