Sleep status of medical students of a private medical college in Kerala

Abstract

Objective : Sleep is very important for healthy, efficient and happy life of every person. Medical students, being future doctors, need to have good rest and learn to take good care of themselves if they have to serve people efficiently in future. This subject, of quality of sleep among medical students, has not been researched in India. We are doing a pilot study to find out the sleep status of medical students in a private medical college in Kerala. Design: Cross sectional study was done on medical students. Subjects: 20% of randomly selected students from five batches, a total of 100 students. Methods: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) form was administered to the students. Data was tabulated and analysed using Microsoft Excel. Scoring was done using PSQI Microsoft Access database software. Results: Out of 100, 53 (53%) students showed poor quality sleep with Global PSQI score >5. Though only 5% felt their sleep was bad, 87% were found to have bad or worse sleep efficiency scores. Conclusions: Future doctors must follow good sleep hygiene and habits to ensure positive health, to ensure a long life full of energy. This subject needs to be studied further.