Daytime Sleepiness and Academic Performance among Medical Students

The study aimed to examine the prevalence of daytime sleepiness among medical students and to explore its relationship with academic performance. A total of 161 consenting Saudi male medical students aged 18 and above participated in this cross-sectional survey done in Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University in Alkharj, Saudi Arabia. All subjects answered a generalized questionnaire that was piloted and included information on demographics and Epworth-sleepiness scale (ESS). Excessive daytime sleepiness was observed in 37.8% of the subjects. Only 22 (13.7%) of the subjects had less than 4 hours of sleep while majority (70.8%) fell within 4-8 hours. Comparison between subjects with normal sleep versus those with excessive daytime sleepiness revealed no significant differences, including GPA scores. Excessive daytime sleepiness is common among Saudi male medical students and this does not seem to influence GPA scores. Prospective studies are needed to validate the present findings.

Author(s):

Jamaan M. Al-Zahrani, Khaled K. Aldossari, Imad Abdulmajeed, Sameer H. Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah M. Al-Shamrani and Nawaf S. Al-Qahtani

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