Sleep Quality among Pre-Clinical Medical Students in Universiti Putra Malaysia and Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction:Poor sleep quality among university students has become an important issue to be concerned as it can hugely influence the students especially on their academic performance. However, there are inadequate studies published on the sleep quality of medical students in Malaysia. Objective: This study aimed at determining the sleep quality of pre-clinical medical students in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM). Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that used self-administered questionnaire to collect data from the pre-clinical medical students of UPM and UM. Sleep quality of the students was measured using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. All data were analysed by SPSS version 21. Results: Findings revealed that 63.9% respondents with poor sleep quality (PSQI score: more than 5). The prevalence of poor sleepers in UM (67%) was slightly higher compared to UPM (60.9%). However, the comparison of PSQI score showed no significant difference between UPM and UM respondents (p = 0.082). Meanwhile, the average sleep duration per night among respondents was 5 hours 39 minutes (± 1.21 hrs), whereas only 6.1% students practiced recommended sleep value per night (> 7 hrs). Significant association was found between caffeine intake and sleep quality. Besides, this present study showed no association between sleep quality with gender and year of study. Conclusion: Majority of the pre-clinical students in UPM and UM had poor sleep quality and short sleep duration. Only a small number of students practiced recommended sleep value per night.

Stress and Sleep Quality among Engineering Students

“…It was depicted that most of the engineering students in this study slept for less than seven hours every night, and this finding is consistent with previous studies by Tien Ngu et al (2017), Ahmed et al (2020), andWondie et al (2021). Also, consistent with this current study's findings, Tien Ngu et al (2017) and Wondie et al (2021) disclosed that the students rated their subjective sleep quality as good despite knowing they were experiencing poor sleep quality.…”

“…This study's finding is consistent with that of Ahmed et al (2020), which showed that many engineering students reported poor sleep quality. In addition, the percentage of engineering students in this study having poor sleep quality was quite close to that of Al-Khani et al (2019), Nasir and Mohamad (2020), Tien Ngu et al (2017), and Wondie et al (2021 which used medical students as their samples. The comparable findings between these studies show that despite different courses pursued by the students, there are no differences concerning sleep quality levels, which is supported by Ahad (2019).…”

“…These factors affect the sleep quality of the students and its association. Generally, university students reported having experienced a low level of sleep quality (Ahad, 2019;Ahmed et al, 2020;Al-Khani et al, 2019;Almojali et al, 2017;Alotaibi et al, 2020;Amaral et al, 2018;González Salinas et al, 2020;Li et al, 2020;Musa et al, 2018;Najem et al, 2020;Nasir & Mohamad, 2020;Tien Ngu et al, 2017;Wondie et al, 2021;Zhai et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2018). 76% of the students in the study by Almojali et al (2017) reported experiencing low sleep quality.…”

“…76% of the students in the study by Almojali et al (2017) reported experiencing low sleep quality. In addition, Tien Ngu et al (2017) found that most Malaysian university students sleep for less than seven hours every day of the night. These findings have been supported by Wondie et al (2021), reporting that 62% of the students have low sleep quality.…”

“…Besides, Wondie et al (2021) revealed that poor social support, inadequate sleep hygiene, increased stress, and depression were predictors of poor sleep quality among the students. Moreover, Tien Ngu et al (2017) disclosed that caffeine intake was correlated with low quality of sleep among students, such that students with a higher intake of caffeine experienced lower quality of sleep than students with no consumption of caffeine.…”