Do college students' living arrangements affect their health behaviors and academic performance?

Objective: To assess how living arrangements influence lifestyle habits and behaviors that impact the health and academic achievement of students. Participants: 876 undergraduate students at a university in Florida. Methods: Students in all colleges were invited to participate in an anonymous survey. The survey was comprised of questions based on living arrangements, grade point average (GPA), anthropometric measures, as well as health behaviors. Data analysis was performed employing least squares regression and Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis Rank Sums Test tests. Results: Different living arrangements were related to different health behaviors, but not one arrangement was associated with unhealthy or healthy habits only. Overall, there was no significant association between students' living arrangement, body-mass index (body mass index), and self-reported GPA. Conclusion: While university students' living arrangements are associated with differences in health behaviors and habits, these differences have no significant impact on students' average BMI or GPA.

Experience With, Knowledge of, and Attitudes Toward Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Pre-Nursing and Nursing Students.

Our study explored pre-nursing and graduating nursing students' experience with, knowledge of, and attitude toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Both pre-nursing and nursing students reported positive attitudes toward CAM in general, indicated being interested in learning about CAM, and planned on making CAM practices part of their future careers.

Student health behavior and academic performance.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between health behaviors and habits of university students and academic achievement. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred fourteen undergraduate students at a state university in the United States. METHODS: Students were invited over a 2-year period to participate in an anonymous online survey that asked questions concerning a wide range of health behaviors and habits; participants were asked to report their current grade point average (GPA). Standard Least Squares Models were used to examine differences in self-reported GPA across the different health behaviors and habits, with individuals as replicates. RESULTS: The study found positive associations between breakfast consumption, physical activity, and strength training and self-reported GPA, and negative associations between the hours of sleep per night, hours worked per week, fast food and energy drinks consumption, and use of marijuana, alcohol and electronic vaping products. CONCLUSIONS: While there is an association for some of the studied health behaviors and habits with self-reported GPA, the effect sizes for these health behaviors were low. The significant effect of vaping on GPA as well as the increased use reported in this study indicates that the topic should be explored further. Furthermore, students should be educated on the potential positive and negative effects of health behavior choices to help them make better choices.

Joint hypermobility and musculoskeletal injuries in a university-aged population.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between joint hypermobility and risk of musculoskeletal injuries in a university-aged population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using an anonymous survey. SETTING: Anatomy & Physiology lab. PARTICIPANTS: 816 undergraduate Anatomy & Physiology students at a university in the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Beighton score, self-reported musculoskeletal injuries. RESULTS: Athletically active study respondents reported more musculoskeletal injuries than respondents who indicated not being athletically active. Female respondents had lower rates of self-reported injuries than male respondents (55.4% vs. 65.5%; p = 0.0099; odds ratio: 1.53). The most commonly reported injury type for both women and men were quadriceps, groin and hamstring injuries. Neither male nor female respondents with generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) or localized joint hypermobility (LJH) reported higher rates of musculoskeletal injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Athletically active young adults are at greater risk for sustaining musculoskeletal injuries; however, there is no additional increase in injury risk for young people with GJH or LJH.

The influence of eating habits on the academic performance of university students.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between eating habits of university students and academic achievement. PARTICIPANTS: 577 undergraduate students at a university in the United States. METHODS: Students were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey that asked questions concerning health-related behaviors; participants were asked to report their current grade point average (GPA). Statistical analyses were performed using the JMP software program; a standard least squares regression was used to test whether self-reported current GPA was related to different types and rates of weekly food and drink consumption. RESULTS: Self-reported GPA did not change along with weekly rates of milk, vegetables, green salad, fruit juice, or fresh fruit consumption. Breakfast consumption had a positive effect on self-reported GPA, while fast food consumption had a negative effect. CONCLUSION: Healthy eating habits have a positive effect on students' academic performance. However, other factors, such as sleep habits, may be more important.

A longitudinal study of the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on students' health behavior, mental health and emotional well-being.

BACKGROUND: COVID-related restrictions impacted the lives of students on and off campus during Academic Year 2020/2021. METHODS: Our study collected data on student health behavior and habits as well as their mental and emotional health using anonymous surveys. We compared these data with data collected prior to COVID in the longitudinal part of our study (n = 721) and analyzed them for the cross-sectional part of the study (n = 506). RESULTS: The longitudinal data show a significant difference for some student behaviors and habits, such as sleeping habits, physical activity, breakfast consumption, time spent online or playing video games, vaping, and marijuana use, during the COVID pandemic compared with pre-COVID data. Respondents also reported a significant increase in difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions, as well as being impacted by feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Yet, there was no increase in the proportion of respondents considering, planning or attempting suicide during COVID. The cross-sectional data illuminate the negative effect of the overall situation and the restrictions on students' mental and emotional well-being. Three-quarters of respondents reported having craved human interaction during the past six months, more than half felt that their mental/emotional health had been impacted by the lack of social events or the switch to virtual (online) teaching. Two-thirds or more of respondents also expressed that they felt less connected to their peers and less motivated in their studies than in previous semesters. Fifty percent or more of respondents selected anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, disconnected, tired, and fatigued as words that best described their emotional state during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of COVID-related restrictions on students' behaviors and habits as well as their mental and emotional health was less severe than one would have expected based on studies during the early stage of the pandemic. While some behaviors and habits changed during the COVID pandemic compared with the pre-COVID period, the changes were not substantial overall. Our study did not find an increase in the proportion of respondents considering, planning or attempting suicide during COVID, although the cross-sectional data from our survey make the negative effect of the overall situation and the restrictions on students' mental and emotional well-being evident. The impact of the pandemic will unquestionably be long-lasting and will necessitate further and future investigations.

Prevalence of generalized joint hypermobility, musculoskeletal injuries, and chronic musculoskeletal pain among American university students.

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) in a university-aged population, whether young adults (aged 18-25 years) with GJH are prone to sustain more musculoskeletal injuries, and are more likely to suffer from chronic musculoskeletal pain. The study used an interactive survey to gather data; GJH was assessed using a cut-off Beighton score of ≥5 in accordance with the 2017 International Classification of EDS criteria. The analyzed sample consisted of 482 female and 172 male participants from Florida Gulf Coast University (USA). The prevalence of GJH in a university-aged population can be estimated at 12.5%. Women did not have higher rates of GJH than men. However, female participants showed significantly higher rates of hypermobility of the spine as well as the right knee and elbow joints. The Beighton scores did not differ by ethnicity/race. Female participants had a lower rate of self-reported injuries than male participants, although this difference was not significant. There was no difference in the proportion of all participants classified within different categories (0; 1-4; 5-9) of Beighton scores and whether or not they reported having been injured. Male and female participants reported chronic pain of joints and neck or back at the same rates across the Beighton score categories. Female participants, however, reported higher pain intensity for chronic neck and back pain. This study increases knowledge about a correlation between GJH, musculoskeletal injuries, and chronic pain of joints, neck, and back in a university-aged population.

Comparing the awareness of and beliefs in sexually transmitted infections among university students in Madagascar and the United States of America.

Young adults have a higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than other age groups. This risk may be mediated by their social and cultural setting which can impact young adults' awareness of, beliefs in, and risk of contracting STIs (including HIV/AIDS). In order to understand how these factors vary among young adults of different cultures, it is important to study these issues on a cross-cultural scale. This study aimed to increase understanding of the relationship between the culture of a place of study and: (1) STI awareness; (2) belief in STIs; and (3) self-reported STI prevalence in the study population. Survey data were collected from university students in Madagascar (n = 242 surveys in 2013) and the United States of America (n = 199 surveys in 2015). Compared to students at the American university, students at the Malagasy university: (1) did not appear to have a conclusively lower awareness of STIs; (2) did not differ in rates of belief in the existence of gonorrhea and syphilis, but had higher rates of disbelief in HIV/AIDS; and (3) were more likely to report having been infected with syphilis and gonorrhea, but not with HIV/AIDS. Students at the Malagasy university also listed different reasons than the students at the American university for why they believed in the existence of STIs. These findings highlight the need for further cross-cultural research to better adapt intervention strategies to different cultural settings.