Sleep quality in medical students: a comparison across the various phases of the medical course

Abstract

Objective:To evaluate and compare subjective sleep quality in medical students across the various phases of the medical course. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study involving medical undergraduates at one medical school in the city of Botucatu, Brazil. All first- to sixth-year students were invited to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which has been validated for use in Brazil. Participants were divided into three groups according to the phase of the medical course: group A (first- and second-years); group B (third- and fourth-years); and group C (fifth- and sixth-years). The results obtained for the instrument components were analyzed for the total sample and for the groups. Results:Of the 540 students invited to participate, 372 completed the instrument fully. Of those, 147 (39.5%) reported their sleep quality to be either very or fairly bad; 110 (29.5%) reported taking more than 30 min to fall asleep; 253 (68.0%) reported sleeping 6-7 h per night; 327 (87.9%) reported adequate sleep efficiency; 315 (84.6%) reported no sleep disturbances; 32 (8.6%) reported using sleeping medication; and 137 (36.9%) reported difficulty staying awake during the day at least once a week. Group comparison revealed that students in group A had worse subjective sleep quality and greater daytime dysfunction than did those in groups B and C. Conclusions:Medical students seem to be more exposed to sleep disturbance than other university students, and first- and second-years are more affected than those in other class years because they have worse subjective sleep quality. Active interventions should be implemented to improve sleep hygiene in medical students.

Qualidade do sono e sonolência em estudantes do ensino superior

“…O índice de qualidade do sono (PSQI-PT), permitiu apurar que 65% dos estudantes universitários do estudo apresentam má qualidade do sono e que 12.1% apresentavam distúrbios do sono. Estes resultados vão ao encontro de outros estudos que revelaram que a maioria dos estudantes tem uma perceção subjetiva de sono como mau ou muito mau (Braaf, Ameratunga, Teague, Jowett, & Gabbe, 2016;Corrêa et al, 2017;Obrecht et al, 2015;Orzech et al, 2011;Thacher, 2008). Constatou-se que o número de participantes que referiu dormir pelo menos sete horas, aumenta significativamente durante o fim de semana.…”

“…Apesar das limitações deste estudo, tais como, não ter sido questionada a idade dos participantes, a amostra reduzida e a avaliação percebida dos hábitos de sono (ao invés de por observação direta), através da autorresposta dos participantes, e considerando o possível impacto da desejabilidade social, este trabalho tem o mérito de revelar resultados sobre a qualidade de sono dos estudantes universitários, reiterando a tendência já revelada por outros investigadores noutros países (cf. Braaf et al, 2016;Corrêa et al, 2017;Obrecht et al, 2015;Orzech et al, 2011;Thacher, 2008). O estudo fornece, ainda, aspetos de relevância a serem aprimorados futuramente, não só no que respeita à importância do sono no públicoalvo, bem como para o sistema nervoso central (Simor et al, 2015) e para a saúde física e mental do indivíduo (João et al, 2018).…”

“…De facto, sabe-se que os horários irregulares de aulas acompanhados de sonolência diurna podem afetar o padrão do sono e comprometer a capacidade funcional, tal como se verificou no estudo de Amaro e Dumith (2018) com professores universitários. A construção do elevado prejuízo na qualidade do sono em estudantes do ensino superior (Corrêa, Oliveira, Pizzamiglio, Ortolan, & Weber, 2017) despertou o interesse de vários autores em compreender, neste mesmo grupo, os problemas relacionados, quer com a qualidade, quer com a quantidade do sono (Tsui & Wing, 2009). A título exemplificativo, refira-se o estudo de Lopes et al (2013) (Obrecht et al, 2015).…”

A comparative study of sleep habits among medical and non-medical students in Saifai, Etawah

“…24,25 Nearly 16% of the students in our sample classified their sleep quality bad, however Corrêa et al found that 40% of the study subjects reported their life. 26 Poor sleep quality is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. 27,28 In the present study, daytime dysfunction was reported by 70% of the participants, who had difficulty staying awake during the day at least once a week.…”

Health status, resilience and quality of life of first and fourth year nursing students

“…Investigation performed with 372 medical students in an university of Sao Paulo interior demonstrated that 39.5% of sample had poor or very poor sleep quality, being that students from basic level of education reported the worst perception of subjective sleep quality and of daily disturbances than the others. [19] It is possible that several curricular assignments, such as tests and homework, and extracurricular activities -including research and study groups, academic leagues, scholar directories -contribute in different ways across the academic trajectory for the poor sleep quality of nursing students. However, in general, national and international [1,20] studies have demonstrated that, independently of course semester, nursing students report poor sleep quality.…”