Toxic Habits and Well-Being Measures in Spanish Healthcare University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Unhealthy lifestyles are strongly entrenched in healthcare universities and have sometimes been linked to stress or lack of sleep. This study investigated the prevalence of toxic habits (smoking, patterns of harmful alcohol use, and illicit drug use), stress levels, perceived health stat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Zapata, Irene, Maté Muñoz, José Luis, Higueras, Alfonso, Hernández Lougedo, Juan, Martín-Fidalgo, Natalia, García Fernández, Pablo, Redondo-Vega, María Victoria, Ruiz-Tovar, Jaime
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/73424
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/73424
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:616.98-036.21:578.834(100)"2020/..."
Alcohol
Smoking
Cannabis
Toxic habits
Stress
Sleep
Self-perceived health
COVID-19 pandemic
University students
Healthcare students
Enfermería
32 Ciencias Médicas
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Unhealthy lifestyles are strongly entrenched in healthcare universities and have sometimes been linked to stress or lack of sleep. This study investigated the prevalence of toxic habits (smoking, patterns of harmful alcohol use, and illicit drug use), stress levels, perceived health status, and sleep duration and assessed the connections between toxic habits and said well-being measures, as well as healthcare students’ perception of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on these health-related behaviors. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, healthcare students from Alfonso X University (Spain) completed a health survey composed of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), self-perceived health status, and the number of hours of sleep. Results: A total of 997 healthcare students completed the survey, of which 982 were analyzed. Being a smoker (32.2%) was associated with worse health status and insufficient sleep. Risk drinkers (33.2%) were associated with being female, and the consumption of cannabinoids (6.7%), with being male. These three toxic habits were related to each other. High levels of stress (28.2%) were correlated with worse ratings in the perception of health status (29.2%) and with insufficient sleep (45.8%), and all of them were associated with the female sex. Respectively, 49.3% and 44.2% of students recognized a worsening in their perception of stress and their sleep habits during the pandemic. Conclusion: Healthcare universities must carry out health promotion programs for stress management, sleep habits, and unhealthy lifestyles.