Sleep Quality and Duration Can Influence Junior Physicians' Performance in High-Level Assessments for Residency Programs

Abstract

Objective

To assess the sleep quality and duration among junior physicians in Paraguay during the month and night prior to their assessment for entry into primary specialty medical residency programs.

Materials and Methods

A self-administered survey based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was distributed to junior physicians after their National Commission for Medical Residencies (Comisión Nacional de Residencias Médicas – CONAREM, in Spanish) written evaluation. The survey collected data on sleep patterns during the month and night prior to the assessment. The responses were analyzed and matched with physicians' CONAREM scores.

Results

The response rate of the survey was 66.3% (270/407 physicians). Among the participants, 150 (55.5%) reported a very poor sleep quality (PSQI > 10). Women scored significantly higher on the PSQI (p = 0.013). A significant association was found between the quality of sleep on the night prior to the CONAREM evaluation and the reported evaluation scores (F-test = 3.55, degree of freedom [df] = 3, p = 0.019). In fact, the night before the written evaluation, 215 participants (79.6%) slept for ≤ 6 hours. A linear relationship was found between the duration of sleep of physicians in the night before the CONAREM written evaluation and the total score obtained in that evaluation (r = 0.200, p < 0.001), suggesting that the more hours they slept, the higher the score they reported.

Conclusion

The quality and duration of junior physicians' sleep the night before the high-stakes evaluation positively correlated with their performance scores. These findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep for optimal cognitive performance in high-stress situations.

Keywords

sleep quality - sleep duration - physicians - performance - clinical assessment - undergraduate medical education

Ethical Considerations

The present study was conducted under the Research Improvement Program of the Research Group on Epidemiology of Mental Disorders, Psychopathology, and Neurosciences and was approved by the Department of Medical Psychology at the School of Medical Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Paraguay (Reference 001–002–2024), pursuant to Resolution N° 0708–00–2022 of the Board of Directors of the School of Medical Sciences, article 2, which pertains to ethical approval processes for non-experimental studies. The data were handled with confidentiality, equality, and justice in accordance with the Helsinki principles. Participants who requested feedback from the survey were invited to provide their email addresses to receive specific, useful information or suggestions.

Red de Estudiantes Investigadores en Neurociencias (Neuroscience Research Students Network)

Anthon Daniel Torres-Romero, Matías Franco Di Giuseppe, Elías René Rolón-Méndez, Patricia Lorena Martínez-López, Katja Victoria Heinichen-Mansfeld, Basilio Ruiz-Galeano, and Martín Sánchez García de Zuñiga.

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 15. April 2024

Angenommen: 27. Januar 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Juni 2025

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