Sleep Deprivation and Dehydration in Young Adults

Abstract

Purpose: Sleep deprivation is a significant issue among Indonesian young adults, with over 67% of them being affected. This lack of sleep can lead to various health problems, including dehydration, which affects 41.6% of the population. Despite the high prevalence of both sleep deprivation and dehydration, there has been no research in Indonesia on the relationship between sleep and dehydration. This study aimed to investigate this association among young adults.

Methodology/approach: The study involved 98 participants aged 17 to 22 years. Sleep duration was assessed using a sleep timing questionnaire (STQ), while the degree of dehydration was determined using a urine dipstick. The analysis, conducted using the Spearman correlation test.

Results/findings: The results revealed that the majority of participants slept for less than 6 hours per night (31.6%) and were minimally dehydrated (78.6%). Interestingly, a higher percentage of male participants (34.7%) slept for less than 6 hours compared to female participants (32.7%), yet the prevalence of minimal dehydration was higher in female participants (81.6%) than in male participants (75.5%). However, the bivariate analysis did not show any correlation between sleep duration and the degree of dehydration (p=0.418).

Limitations: The study solely captured participants' habitual sleep duration, failing to account for their sleep duration on the preceding night. Furthermore, the manual interpretation of the reagent strip in this study introduced interindividual variability. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to interpreting the findings necessitates a careful consideration of these aspects.

Contribution: The discoveries could contribute to the development of improved guidelines for both sleep and hydration.