Life Habits and Academic Performance during the Examination Period in Nursing Students

Abstract

Introduction: The life habits of university students, with little time to carry them out due to academic stress, practices, class and study hours, are usually unhealthy; therefore, they can influence academic performance negatively.

Objective: To analyze life habits in the evaluation period and their influence on academic performance in university students of the Nursing degree.

Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study carried out, in the academic year 2018, at the time of examination with 488 students from the four courses of the Nursing degree from a university in southern Spain. The instruments used were a questionnaire with sociodemographic data and another lifestyle habits quiz. Information analysis was carried out through descriptive statistics, parametric and nonparametric tests, and linear correlation. Ethical considerations for human studies were respected.

Results: 53.30% of the sample did physical exercise on a regular basis, being similar for men in the four courses assessed, while for women it increased from 31.11% in first academic year to 61.26% in the fourth academic year. There were no relevant differences in academic performance according to lifestyle variables except sleep.

Conclusions: The hours of sleep per se, especially during the week before the exam, are related to higher academic performance. Our results suggest that less healthy lifestyles lead to poorer academic performance.