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

Julio Torales; Carlos Mena-Canata; Macarena Morínigo; Karen Falloon; Matías Cantero; Sofía Gauto; Nicolás López; Marcelo Vargas; Marcelo O'Higgins; Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez; Antonio Ventriglio; João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia; Iván Barrios; Red de Estudiantes Investigadores en Neurociencias

doi:10.1055/s-0045-1805060

Sleep Science, Table of Contents

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2025; 18(03): e272-e280
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1805060

Original Article

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

Authors

Julio Torales

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay

²Instituto Regional de Investigación en Salud, Universidad Nacional de Caaguazú, Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay

³Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Sudamericana, Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay
Carlos Mena-Canata

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Macarena Morínigo

⁴Instituto Nacional de Salud, Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social, Asunción, Paraguay
Karen Falloon

⁵Clinical Skills Centre, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Matías Cantero

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Sofía Gauto

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Nicolás López

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Marcelo Vargas

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Marcelo O'Higgins

¹Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Cátedra de Psiquiatría, San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez

⁶Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Científica del Sur, Lima, Perú
Antonio Ventriglio

⁷Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia

⁸Department of Neuroscience, Fundação do ABC, Santo André, SP, Brazil

⁹Department of Psychiatry, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Iván Barrios

³Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Sudamericana, Pedro Juan Caballero, Paraguay

¹⁰Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Filial Santa Rosa del Aguaray, Cátedra de Bioestadística, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Santa Rosa del Aguaray, Paraguay

Red de Estudiantes Investigadores en Neurociencias

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

Full Text

References

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