Insomnia affects school performance of college students

The study, authored by James F. Pagel, MD, of the University of Colorado, focused on 64 psychology, nursing and medical students, with an average age of 27.4 years. GPA (2.0 to 4.0) was split in the middle to form two groups: low GPA and high GPA.

According to the results, 69.7 percent of those students with low GPAs had difficulty falling asleep. In addition, 53.1 percent of low GPA students experienced leg kicks or twitches at night, while 65.6 percent reported waking at night and having trouble falling back to sleep and 72.7 percent had difficulty concentrating during the day.

"In college students, the complaint of difficulty concentrating during the day continues to have a considerable impact on their ability to succeed in the classroom,” said Dr. Pagel. “This study showed that disordered sleep has significant deleterious effects on a student’s academic performance, including GPA.”

Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. It is the most commonly reported sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have symptoms of insomnia.-American Academy of Sleep Medicine