Sleep impact of pandemic COVID-19 crisis on university students in Saudi Arabia and associated factors

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic has many psychological and physical effects. University students are among vulnerable population. OBJECTIVES: We aimed in this study to assess sleep effects of COVID-19 pandemic on university students in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We conducted cross-sectional study to collect responses of 5,140 participations from Saudi universities, responders completed the demographic questions, psychological scales including insomnia severity scale (ISI) between 24th and 30th of April 2020. RESULTS: About 41% of the sample suffered from moderate to severe insomnia. Mean ISI score was 12.9 (SD 6.62). Insomnia was associated with female gender, younger age, students from new universities, junior students, if a relative got COVID-19, having a chronic medical illness, and having a psychiatric disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Covid-19 pandemic has clear effect on sleep among Saudi university students. Universities need to plan and implement protective and intervention strategies to deal with this important issue. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.