Gender as a factor in the prevalence and perceived influence of insomnia on the academic performance of University of Cape Coast undergraduate students

Abstract

The study investigated gender as a factor in the prevalence and perceived influence of insomnia on academic performance of University of Cape Coast undergraduate students. The descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. Multistage sampling technique was used to select 396 respondents from four colleges within the University of Cape Coast for the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire constructed by the researchers, with a reliability coefficient estimate of .72 (Cronbach's alpha). Data were analysed both descriptively, using means and standard deviations, and inferentially, using independent samples t-test and one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings from the study showed that a large proportion of undergraduate students of the University of Cape Coast experienced insomnia and this influenced their academic performance negatively. It was also found that female students were more prone to insomnia than their male counterparts. It was recommended that the University authorities should mount appropriate counselling programmes to assist students identify the physical and psychological  symptoms of insomnia and that students who perform poorly academically and those who are observed to be persistently dossing in class be monitored and referred for professional counselling.

Keywords: Academic performance, counselling, gender, insomnia, sleep, students, undergraduate.