Sleep Patterns and Quality Among Post-graduate Medical Students: Impact of Clinical Responsibilities and Demographic Factors
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Sleep is critical in overall health, cognitive functioning, and emotional well-being. Postgraduate medical students often experience sleep disturbances due to demanding academic schedules, clinical responsibilities, and stress. Aim and Objective: To evaluate sleep patterns and quality among post-graduate medical students and examine variations based on age, gender, and departmental afliation. Materials and Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted among post-graduate medical students. Sleep patterns were assessed using self-reported sleep diaries, which recorded parameters such as sleep efciency, latency, wake after sleep onset, subjective sleep quality, and morning refreshness. Participants were stratied by age, gender, and departmental afliation (clinical vs. non-clinical). Statistical analyses were performed to compare sleep parameters across groups, with signicance set at p < 0.05. Results: Most participants were aged 25–30 years, with no signicant differences in sleep parameters observed among different age groups. Gender-based comparisons revealed slightly better sleep efciency and subjective sleep quality in females than males, though these differences were not statistically signicant. Clinical students demonstrated signicantly poorer subjective sleep quality (mean score 2.52 vs. 1.24; p = 0.006) and morning refreshness (mean score 2.62 vs. 1.20; p = 0.003) than non-clinical students. Sleep efciency, sleep onset latency, and wake after sleep onset did not signicantly differ between the two groups. Conclusion: Clinical post-graduate students experience signicantly poorer sleep quality and reduced morning refreshness than their non-clinical counterparts, likely due to the demanding nature of clinical training. No signicant variations in sleep patterns were observed across age groups or genders. These ndings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including work schedule optimization and stress management strategies, to improve this population's sleep health and overall well-being. Future research should explore longitudinal trends and the effectiveness of these interventions.
Author: Anuj Dwivedi
Language: English
Topic: Sleep and related disorders
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4405930513