Sleep Knowledge and Behaviors in Medical Students: Results of a Single Center Survey

Abstract

Objective There is little known about the demands of medical school on students’ sleep behavior. The study’s main goal was to examine the interplay between medical students’ sleep knowledge, personal attitudes towards sleep, and their sleep habits. Methods An anonymous online survey was created and emailed to all students enrolled at a large metropolitan medical school. Data on demographics, sleep perception and habits in addition to self-reported measures of students sleep knowledge, beliefs and sleepiness were collected. Results There were 261, out of a possible 720, responses to the survey. While 71.5% of respondents believed that they needed >7 hours of sleep only 24.9% of respondents stated they average >7 hours of sleep. During the week of an examination only 15.3% of students stated they averaged >7 hours of sleep. A comparison of pre-clinical and clinical students revealed that reported median sleep during a school or rotation night was significantly lower in clinical students as compared to pre-clinical students while mean sleep during examination weeks between the two groups was not statistically different. In regards to sleep knowledge, clinical students were more knowledgeable (65.53% correct) than pre-clinical students (39.83% correct) (t (1) = −8.9, p = .00). However, there was no difference in the assessment of dysfunctional beliefs between the two groups (66.0 for preclinical students, 64.7 for clinical students (t(1)= .37, p = .71) while clinical students had a higher score of sleepiness compared to pre-clinical students (9.12 to 7.83, t (1) = −2.3, p = .023). Conclusions A majority of medical students are sleeping an inadequate amount of time during their four years and as they progress from the pre-clinical to the clinical years the amount of time they sleep decreases even though their knowledge about sleep increases. Increased awareness around sleep health is required beyond sleep education, as medical students appear to need help translating knowledge into strategies to improve their own sleep and well-being.

Sleep Deprived and Overwhelmed: Sleep Behaviors of Medical Students in the USA

“…Clinical students had considerably more sleepiness than preclinical students and clinical students were also more knowledgeable about the topic of sleep. Preclinical and clinical students held similar views about sleep, as measured by the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (DBAS) scale [3]. This study also examined whether students used prescription sleep medication, over-the-counter sleeping pills, or behavioral sleep strategies.…”

“…Ahmed et al [3] performed a cross-sectional study of medical students at SUNY Downstate Medical School (n = 261). The authors found that, on average, more than 70% of students felt they needed 7 h of sleep each night; however, only one quarter of students slept an average of 7 h nightly.…”

“…The authors found that, on average, more than 70% of students felt they needed 7 h of sleep each night; however, only one quarter of students slept an average of 7 h nightly. Most students slept considerably fewer hours routinely, and during the week of an examination, only 15% of preclinical students and 19% of clinical students had more than 7 h of sleep [3]. Clinical students had considerably more sleepiness than preclinical students and clinical students were also more knowledgeable about the topic of sleep.…”

Design Research on the Network Multimedia Courseware for Art-Design Teaching

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