Author(s): STEFANSDOTTIR, R., ROGNVALDSDOTTIR, V., ARNARSDOTTIR, A., GISLADOTTIR, T., JOHANNSSON, E., GESTSDOTTIR, S., JAKOBSDOTTIR, G., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND, Country: ICELAND, Abstract-ID: 1444

INTRODUCTION:
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted people’s physical and mental health and affected countless individuals globally (1). University students are a subgroup that might be sensitive to changes as they are experiencing major life transition entering adulthood (2). Recent studies have reported that university students sleep behavior changed (3) during the pandemic and similarly, students reported a drastic decline in their physical and mental health (4). However, most studies during COVID-19 have solely relied on subjective data, and thus lacking information obtained with objective measures. The aim of the study was to objectively investigate the free-living sleeping patterns, clock times and physical activity (PA) characteristics of university students in Iceland 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 January 2021 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 hours (±78 min) and rose at 09:05 hours (±96 min). Females spent more time in bed, slept longer, and went to bed and rose earlier than males (all ps<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:
Findings from this descriptive analysis indicate that university students in Iceland sleep less than recommended and demonstrate a late sleep schedule. The COVID-19 pandemic affected sleep and physical activity differently in female and male university students as females went to bed earlier, slept longer and were more physically active compared to males. Earlier bedtimes correlated with higher PA counts, which could highlight the importance of practicing proper sleep hygiene and underline the importance of consistent sleep routine for overall health and well-being during challenging times or personal hardship.

References:
1.Wilson et al. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on US college students physical activity and mental health. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. 2021;18(3):272-8.
2.Auerbach et al. WHO world mental health surveys international college student project: prevalence and distribution of mental disorders. Journal of abnormal psychology. 2018;127(7):623.
3.Lukowski et al. Undergraduate student stress, sleep, and health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Behavioral Medicine. 2022:1-15.
4.Gestsdottir et al. Health and well-being of university students before and during COVID-19 pandemic: A gender comparison. Plos one. 2021;16(12):e0261346.