A cross sectional study to determine the sleep pattern and impact of sleep deprivation on the health and academics of medical students of BMCRI, Bengaluru

Abstract

Background: Sleep is a state of body and mind which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is inactive, eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed and consciousness practically suspended. Lack of sleep has been linked to emotional and physical health effects. Hence this study is proposed to know the sleep pattern and its effects on health and academics of medical students. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from June to September 2015 on 200 medical students by convenient sampling using pre-tested, semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire was given to them. Data was entered in excel sheet and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Mean age of students was 20.65±0.56 SD, 68.5% of the students have normal sleep duration hours. 31.5% of them had abnormal sleep, of which 38.09% and 61.91% of them are affected in health and academics respectively. 35% of students watch television/late night movies and hinder their sleep which depicts the younger generation is much attracted towards browsing at night times which affect their sleep pattern. 34.86% of sleep deprived students went for depression followed by agitation which affected their daily routine at a significant level. Conclusions: Sleep is essential for good physical and mental health. Deprivation of sleep can affect day-today activities. Knowledge about sleep hygiene should be taught from school level itself.