Freshman Sleep and Health Project

NCT ID: NCT03214523

Last Updated: 2018-01-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 100 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-06-22
• Study Completion Date: 2018-12-31

Brief Summary

Sleep is a clearly necessary neurobiologic process that influences innumerable aspects of basic daily functions, physical health, and mental well-being. Recent literature shows that college students across the country are experiencing high rates of sleep deprivation. Interestingly, some recent studies have implicated this sleep loss in contributing to weight gain that occurs in the first year of college, also known as the "freshman fifteen." Rates of depression and other mental health issues, which are closely connected to sleep disturbances, are also on the rise in college campuses. The majority of the sleep data obtained in this population has been via questionnaires and self report, and the studies usually include college students at all seniority levels (e.g., freshmen, sophomores, seniors). Here, the investigators outline a novel study investigating how sleep time changes in college freshman, and how it relates to multiple different aspects of their health and functioning over the course of one quarter.

As technology has advanced, the ability to easily obtain objective measurements of different health parameters has increased dramatically. The investigators plan to use wireless actigraphy devices to measure sleep over a baseline seven day period in college-bound UCSD students prior to matriculation, and for 2 additional seven day periods during the first quarter of college. To the knowledge of the investigators, this is the first study to directly measure sleep time in college freshman in their normal environment. Effects of sleep time loss will be evaluated through multiple different metrics of physical and mental health. Given the recent link between sleep disturbances and weight gain in college freshman, the investigators will plan to measure weight changes prior to entering college and at two different time points through the first quarter. The investigators will use the PSQ-9 and GAD7 batteries as measures of mental health, obtained at the same time points as the sleep and weight information. As one of the primary consequences of sleep deprivation is on neurocognition in the daytime, the investigators plan to measure vigilant attention using psychomotor vigilance testing (PVT) as well. Screen time use has recently been targeted as a possible contributor to sleep loss in adolescents as well as adults and is something the investigators will attempt to measure as well using a smartphone application. Finally, this project will test the efficacy of a one hour sleep education intervention on improving total sleep time.

To the knowledge of the investigators, no other studies have closely examined how total sleep time changes during the first year of college in freshman in relationship to weight and mental health parameters, nor has PVT been done in this context. Additionally, with the increasing concerns regarding screen time use in adolescents and young adults, this study provides prime opportunity to examine this issue in the context of sleep.

Conditions

Preventative Health; Sleep; Weight

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Sleep Education

The intervention will be a brief education of the importance of sleep and healthy sleep habits. Subjects will also receive a standard sleep brochure on healthy sleep (which will also be given to the other arm).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Sleep Education

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The subject will undergo a 30-minute session on sleep education from one of the study coordinators.

Sleep Brochure

Subjects will receive a one page hand out on healthy sleep habits.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Sleep Education

The subject will undergo a 30-minute session on sleep education from one of the study coordinators.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Incoming UCSD freshman

Exclusion Criteria

• Under 18 years of age
• Not living on UCSD campus

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of California, San Diego

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Robert L. Owens

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Robert Owens, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UCSD

Locations

University of California San Diego

San Diego, California, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

17-0761

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id