Relationship between poor quality sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness and low academic performance in medical students

Abstract

PurposePoor quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness affect cognitive ability and have a negative impact on the academic performance of medical students. This study aims to determine the prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep quality and psychological distress as well as assess their association with low academic performance in this population.Participants and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 457 medical students from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat, Morocco, who completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale to determine the quality of sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness, respectively. Sociodemographic variables and psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale) were also measured. Multivariate linear regression was performed in order to evaluate the link between low academic performance and sleep quality after adjusting for other covariates.ResultsAmong the included students, the median age was 20 (19; 21) years; 70.7% of the participants were females. Almost one-third of the students (36.6%) had excessive daytime sleepiness and this was more frequently observed in female students (43% vs 20.1%, <0.001). Furthermore, 58.2% of the students were poor sleepers (PSQI ≥5), while 86.4% of them had psychological distress. The bivariate analysis showed that psychological distress was associated with decreased risk of low performance (ß=0.04; 95% CI=0.005–0.07; P=0.024). Being a poor sleeper was statistically associated with poor academic performance (ß= −0.07; 95% CI=−0.14 to −0.002; P=0.04) in the multivariate analysis. In our study, daytime sleepiness was not statistically associated with academic performance.ConclusionA poor sleep quality determined by PSQI ≥5 was related to poor academic achievement at the end of the study year in medical students.

Perception of Sleep Disturbances due to Bedtime Use of Blue Light-Emitting Devices and Its Impact on Habits and Sleep Quality among Young Medical Students

“…rough the past 20 years, researchers have identified a reduction in the average number of hours of sleep among college students [43] and poor sleep quality found up to 50% [44] which negatively impacts learning and memory processes [32,33,45]. We note also that data suggest a potential causal relationship between poor sleep and greater rates of weight gain [11].…”

Relationship between sleep quality, using social media platforms, and academic performance among university students

“…Watson et al stated that the consequences of sleep deprivation were physical effects, mental impairment, and mental health complications. Inadequate rest impairs one's ability to think, handle stress, maintain a healthy immune system, and to control emotions …”

“…Besides, sleep deprivation might prime to emotional disturbances such as deteriorated interpersonal responses and increased aggressiveness. Moreover, sleep deprivation connected with chronic diseases such as type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease . Academic performance in university is a significant predictor of products.…”

“…University students have a high academic load and long hours of the night studying, that put them in risk for diverse kinds of sleep‐associated problems and disturb the quality of their life . Since deprived sleep quality and daytime sleepiness have been associated with poor academic performance in some studies .…”

“…According to new research, social media addiction and deprived sleep are common among students in the university. Recently, studies have revealed that extreme usage of social media platforms may distress sleep quality and mental health and may affect students’ academic performance . (Brunborg et al, 2011) In Saudi Arabia, Asiri et al reported that there were relations between social media usage, sleep disorder, and academic performance among students; they directed that students who were dependent on three or more social media platforms had higher hazard around three times of poor sleep quality.…”