Correlates of Sleep Quality: A Pilot Descriptive Cross-Sectional Survey among Undergraduate Students in a Ghanaian University

Background and Objective: A gap exists in evidence of the association between sleep quality and the academic performance of university students in sub-Saharan Africa. A limited number of studies have been conducted in this regard, which have mainly focused on medical students, thus neglecting the larger population of undergraduate non-medical students. Materials and Methods: This pilot study evaluated the correlates of sleep quality and the academic performance of 500 randomly sampled undergraduate non-medical students at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Data was collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a demographic questionnaire. The par-ticipants' demographic characteristics, academic performance, and sleep quality were first analyzed, descriptively, using SPSS software. Relationships between participants’ sleep quality and demographic factors, and sleep quality and aca-demic performance were determined using Spearman’s rank correlation. The causation between these variables was then determined using simple linear regression. Results: Poor quality of sleep was prevalent among undergraduate students with a mean (SD) PSQI score of 6.43 (2.78). The respondent’s sleep quality had a weak correlation with their academic performance (rs = -0.146; P = 0.001), although poor quality of sleep was a predictor of academic performance [R2 = 0.022; 95% CI (-0.640, -0.168)]. Conclusion: Health education and sleep promotion interventions should be used to encourage good sleep quality and practices among students. Furthermore, the findings point to the need for further studies using a larger population

‘We are nothing without herbs’: a story of herbal remedies use during pregnancy in rural Ghana

Abstract Background Herbal medicine has become the panacea for many rural pregnant women in Ghana despite the modern western antenatal care which has developed in most parts of the country. To our knowledge, previous studies investigating herbal medicine use have primarily reported general attitudes and perceptions of use, overlooking the standpoint of pregnant women and their attitudes, and utilisation of herbal medicine in Ghana. Knowledge of herbal medicine use among rural pregnant women and the potential side effects of many herbs in pregnancy are therefore limited in the country; this qualitative study attempts to address this gap by exploring the perceptions of herbal medicine usage among pregnant women in rural Ghana. Methods A sample of 30, conveniently selected pregnant women, were involved in this study from April 11 to June 22, 2017. Data from three different focus group discussions were thematically analysed and presented based on an a posteriori inductive reduction approach. Results The main findings were that pregnant women used herbal medicine, most commonly ginger, peppermint, thyme, chamomile, aniseeds, green tea, tealeaf, raspberry, and echinacea leaf consistently throughout the three trimesters of pregnancy. Cultural norms and health beliefs in the form of personal philosophies, desire to manage one’s own health, illness perceptions, and a holistic healing approach were ascribed to the widespread use of herbs. Conclusion We recommend public education and awareness on disclosure of herbal medicine use to medical practitioners among pregnant women