Sleep habits and their association with daytime sleepiness among medical students of Tanta University, Egypt
Authors: Atlam Salwa A. , Elsabagh Hala M. 
Published: January 2021

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the sleep quality (habits and disorders) and the daytime sleepiness among medical students.

Methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted during September 2018, through November 2018 at the Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt. The study recruited undergraduate Egyptian and Malaysian students and applied a modified form of two questionnaires, namely the Sleep Habits and Life Style and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)”. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS. The results were expressed as frequency, percentage, and mean ± standard deviation (SD). Chi-square test was used to explore associations between categorical variables. An independent sample t-test was used to detect the mean differences between groups. Ordinal regression analyses were done on the ESS findings in relation to demographics and sleep habits. p-values<0.05 were accepted as statistically significant.

Results

The study included 899 medical students. Most of the participants were Egyptians (67%), rural residents (57.4%), and in the preclinical stage (79.5%). Males represented 66.0% of the study participants and participants average age (SD) was 21.98 (1.13) years. The average durations (SD) of night sleep were 7.3 (1.6) hours in work days and 8.7 (2.1) hours during the weekends. Both were significantly longer among young (<21 years-old) and preclinical students (p<0.05). Students had on average (SD) 1.33 (0.29) hours duration of napping, but 60% of the participants never or rarely scheduled for napping. Larger proportion of male and Malaysian students sometimes scheduled for napping more significantly than their peers (p<0.05). Only 16.24% of students reported that the cause of daytime napping was no enough sleep at night. The students reported sleep disorders of insomnia in the form of waking up too early, trouble falling asleep, or waking up at night with failure to re-sleep (31, 30, and 26%, respectively). Snoring (22.2%) and restless legs (22.0%) were also reported by the students. High chances of dozing off was reported by 22.02% of the participants, of which 10% used sleeping pills, 41.4% suffered psychological affection, and 34.8% reported life pattern affection. We found an increased chance of daytime sleepiness among males (0.430 times) and Egyptian (2.018 times) students. There was a decreased chance of daytime sleepiness in students from rural areas and those below 21-years-old (0.262 and 0.343 times, respectively). Absence of chronic diseases suffering was significantly associated with 5.573 more chance of daytime sleepiness or dozing off. In addition, enough and average sleep at night significantly decreased the chance of daytime sleepiness by 6.292 and 6.578, respectively, whereas daytime consumption of caffeinated beverages significantly decreased the chance of daytime sleepiness by 0.341.

Conclusion

There was unbalanced sleep duration in work days and weekends as well as lack of scheduling for napping among the students. Sleep disorders as insomnia, snoring, and restless legs were associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. Some students who suffered daytime sleepiness also underwent psychological and life pattern affection including taking sleeping pills. Enough and average sleep duration at night as well as daytime consumption of caffeinated beverages decreased the chance of daytime sleepiness.