1 Corresponding author. Address: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca – Prédio Primeiro de Maio - Rua Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480 - sala 17 - CEP: 21041-210, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. E-mail: lilianeteixeira@ensp.fiocruz.br . Phone: +55 21 25982808 Sleep patterns and sleepiness of working college students Liliane Teixeira a 1 , Arne Lowden b , Andrea Aparecida da Luz c , Samantha Lemos Turte c , Daniel Valente a , Roberto Jun Matsumura c , Leticia Pickersgill de Paula c , Meire Yuri Takara c , Roberta Nagai-Manelli b and Frida Marina Fischer c a National School of Public Health, FIOCRUZ. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. b Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. c Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Abstract. The double journey (work and study) may result or aggravate health problems, including sleep disturbances, as observed in previous studies with high school students. The aim of this study is to analyze the sleep-wake cycle and perceived sleepiness of working college students during weekdays. Twenty-three healthy college male students, 21-24 years old, working during the day and attending classes in the evening, participated in this study. During five consecutive days, the students filled out daily activities logs and wore actigraphs. Mean sleeping time was lower than 6 hours per night. No significant differences were observed in the sleep-wake cycle during the weekdays. The observed lack of changes in the sleep- wake cycle of these college students might occur as participants were not on a free schedule, but exposed to social constraints, as was the regular attendance to evening college and day work activities. Sleepiness worsened over the evening school hours. Those results show the burden carried by College students who perform double activities - work and study. Key words: sleepiness, working college students, sleep-wake cycle, 1. Introduction Young adults undergo intense physical, emotional, and cognitive development, aggravated by such factors as college admission, establishment of important relationships, independence from their parents, and the beginning of a labor life. During the past years, worries about the double journey of studying and working have been discussed [1]. The double journey (work and study) may result in or aggravate health problems, including sleep problems, as observed in previous studies with high school students [2]. Work may affect sleep and nap duration, time spent in school, and extra-curricular activities [3]. The aim of this study is to analyze the sleep-wake cycle and perceived sleepiness of working college students during the weekdays. 2. Methods Data collection: Data were collected from August 11 to October 14, 2008. No data collection took place on weeks that included holidays. The subjects answered a comprehensive questionnaire on living and work conditions, health symptoms and sleep. The second stage included gathering records of the sleep-wake cycle of the students using subjective methods (daily activities diaries) and objective methods (actigraphy). An actigraph (MicroMini-Motionlogger Actigraph, Ambulatory Monitoring, Inc®) was worn on the non-dominant wrist for five consecutive days. Sleepiness perception was registered three times during the evening school hours, Monday thru Friday, using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale [4]. Work 41 (2012) 5550-5552 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0879-5550 IOS Press 5550 1051-9815/12/$27.50 © 2012 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved