Sleep quality problems in Thai medical students

Objective To explore sleep quality and daytime sleepiness problems in medical students at Ramathibodi Hospital.

Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected using questionnaires. The questionnaires included (1) Demographic and personal data, (2) The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality problem assessment and (3) The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) for daytime sleepiness assessment.

Results Of 691 medical students, 165 (23.9%) completed questionnaires. The prevalence of poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness were 63.6% and 41.8%, respectively. After adjusted for age and relationship concern, academic concern (prevalence ratio 1.46) and nighttime activity without screen (prevalence ratio 1.43) were associated significantly with sleep quality problem. No factor was associated with daytime sleepiness.

Discussion Interventions to reduce academic burdens should be promoted to improve sleep problems in medical students. Further studies in larger groups of medical students using both subjective and objective measurements should be done in the future.

Sleep Quality - Daytime Sleepiness - Medical Students

ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

The study protocol was approved by the research ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.

CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION

Not applicable.

AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS

The datasets of the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

COMPETING INTEREST

None

FUNDING

None

AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTION

PT designed the study, analyzed data, wrote, revised and submitted the manuscript. TT designed the study, collected and analyzed data, wrote and agreed with the manuscript. RB designed the study and collected data. PW analyzed data. All authors approved publication of the abstract and manuscript.

Publication History

Received: 30 March 2021

Accepted: 09 August 2021

Article published online:
01 December 2023

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