Dados do Trabalho

Título

Sleep Habits and Disorders among Medical Students of the Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Introdução

Poor-quality sleep patterns interfere with academic performance and emotional life, directly affecting productivity. High productivity is expected of medical students, who, subjected to heavy courseloads, may prove unable to meet these demands if sleep quality is poor. Stressed by the demands for academic performance, students can develop sleep disorders in response to full-time courseloads, employment obligations, scant leisure time, long study schedules, insufficient physical activity, and extensive involvement in extracurricular activities such as internships, monitoring, research training programs, symposia, and seminars.

Objetivo

The purpose of this quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study was to identify sleep habits and the prevalence of sleep disorders among medical students of the Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul.

Métodos

To this end, a situational analysis of 128 volunteer medical students was conducted by applying a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) instrument, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Data were tabulated using Excel 2010 and subjected to Student’s t-test and ANOVA. A sample of 93 students, all of whom agreed to participate in the survey and answered the questionnaires consistently, was thus obtained.

Resultados

Of the 93 participants, 2.15% were employed, 74.19% performed extracurricular activities, 25.8% were on the first year of the medicine course, 24.73% on the second, 22.58% the third, and 26.88% on the fourth year. Regarding the PSQI, 65.59% scored poorly, and sleep disorders were detected in 12.9%. Of those categorized as having poor-quality sleep, 35% were enrolled on the fourth year, 31% on the third, 17% the second, and 15% were on the first year of the course. Excessive daytime sleepiness was detected in 48.38%. Most students experienced poor-quality sleep, which was directly associated with course progression.

Conclusões

There is an urgent need for programs to improve quality of life and encourage sleep hygiene among medical students as preventive interventions.



We thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for investing in this research through the Institutional Program for Scientific Initiation Scholarship (PIBIC).

Palavras-chave

Sleep, Sleep–Wake Disorders, Medical Students