OBJECTIVES : Our aim was to analyze the sleep habits of foreign students in Hungary.

METHODS : In the quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional researchwe used an online questionnaire (on social media) in English including the Athens Insomnia Scale in 241 students among 18 to 30 years studying in Hungary. The data were collected from July, 2018 to October, 2018 in SPSS 23.0 version and were analyzed by descriptive statistics (absolute and relative frequency, mean, and standard deviation), Chi-square-test, ANOVA, paired t-test, factor analysis and multiple linear regression.

RESULTS : The age of respondents was 23.69± 3.56 years, most of them were female (61.4%), lived in Pécs (52.3%) and came from Africa (65.6%). Students slept average 6.87± 1.44 hours per day, the Asian respondents slept the most (F=3.14, p=0.02). Medical students slept less than prospective engineers (p = 0.02). Respondents received 7.12± 4.76 points on the Athens Insomnia Scale. Those who slept longer, reported better sleep quality (r = -0.8, p <0.001). Student eating healthy slept longer (F = 4.62; p = 0.011) and had better sleep quality (F = 4.52; p = 0.012). Those who had excellent subjective health status, slept more (F = 3.06; p = 0.049) and showed a better sleep quality (F = 8.80; p <0.001). Eveningness type students slept less (p = 0.007) and scored higher on the insomnia scale (p <0.001). 79.7% of the African students have never smoked (p = 0.03). Smokers' sleep quality was worse (p = 0.002). The most common psychosomatic complaints: fatigue and the sleep disturbances.

CONCLUSIONS : Our results indicate that the quantity and the quality of sleep of foreign students are not satisfactory. Health behavior influences the sleep quality and it influences the subjective health status. We would like to draw attention to regular exercises, healthy nutrition and adequate sleep habits.