Sleep as an Occupation in College Students

The purpose of this study was to measure the quality of sleep in undergraduate college students and explore the relationship between academic self-efficacy and performance in student-related occupations. A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive and correlational research design was used to explore the relationship among sleep quality, perceived self-efficacy, and selected student characteristics. This study included undergraduate students, as well as self-identified student athletes, first generation students, and students with disabilities. To collect data, the researchers conducted an online survey, which consisted of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a demographic and self-efficacy questionnaire. The PSQI was used to evaluate the sleep quality, while the demographic and self-efficacy questionnaire gathered information about student related occupations and self-efficacy. Two hundred and nine college students, aged 17 to 25, participated in the survey. One hundred thirty five (64.6%) participants scored above a five, indicating poor sleep quality while 74 (35.4%) participants obtained good sleep quality as measured by the PSQI, while. The average number of hours slept reported by participants was 6.68. Results support existing evidence suggesting college students are sleep deprived, and over half of participants reported sleep issues that could be addressed by an occupational therapist.https://scholar.dominican.edu/ug-student-posters/1013/thumbnail.jp

Does therapeutic horseback riding decrease balance deficits in community-dwelling older adults?

Hippotherapy and therapeutic riding (TR) provide pleasurable activity and physical exercise to individuals and yet limited study is available on its therapeutic value to improve balance in older adults. In this study, the researchers measured the benefit of TR on balance and quality of life in communitydwelling older adults. A convenience sample of individuals 65 years and older was recruited from a local community. The study is a single-blind, pretest-posttest, controlled study of a 10-session TR program with a Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) trained and certified TR instructor. Each TR session included grooming and tacking, mounting, a warm-up exercise on the horse, riding, and dismounting. The results of this study showed a significant improvement in balance scores as well as participant perception of overall health after the intervention period. Therefore, this study illustrated the practicality, safety, and benefit on improvement of balance in community-dwelling older adults from a short-term TR program. However, the small sample size prevented the data from being conclusive. Larger scale studies should be conducted to clinically prove the benefit of therapeutic riding for older adults. Therapeutic riding has the potential to improve balance and increase quality of life in older adults. Connecting the results from this study to the larger issue of fall prevention may provide evidence to include hippotherapy or TR in occupational therapy for older adults with balance deficits

Sleep as an Occupation in College Students: An Exploratory Study

Sleep as an occupation is frequently under-valued by college students. The purpose of this study was to measure the quality of sleep in undergraduate college students and explore the relationship between academic self-efficacy and performance in student-related occupations. A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive and correlational research design was used to explore the relationship among sleep quality, perceived self-efficacy, and selected characteristics in undergraduate college students (18-25 y/o). Participants included some first generation students, students with disabilities, and student athletes. To collect data, the researchers conducted an online survey, utilizing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and original demographic and self-efficacy questionnaires. The PSQI was used to evaluate the sleep quality, while the demographic and self-efficacy questionnaires gathered information about student demographics, student related occupations and perceived self-efficacy. Two hundred and nine college students, aged 17 to 25, participated in the survey. One hundred thirty five (64.6%) participants reported poor sleep quality, while 74 (35.4%) participants reported good sleep quality as measured by the PSQI. The average number of hours slept reported by participants was 6.68, with a range of one to 11 hours. Despite limited correlations from the study further research may serve as an effective tool in identifying strategies to improve the quality and quantity of sleep in college students. Occupational therapists can help college students establish effective sleep routines as part of their practice. More effective sleep routines may in turn lead to more effective engagement in other occupations