Sleep habits and patterns among medical students.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess sleep patterns among male medical students at different academic levels.

METHODS: Participants in this study were healthy male medical students in the first (L1), second (L2) and third (L3) academic levels of the College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted during November 2001. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students to assess age, academic level, registered credit hours, sleep-wake schedule, naps, quality of sleep, total sleep time at night, possible factors affecting bedtime, and daytime sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).

RESULTS: The final analysis included 129 students. Total sleep time at night + nap of the whole group was 5.9 +/- 1.6 hours. Twenty-nine students (22.4%) were defined to have excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) based on ESS score of >10. Also, 83.3% of students reported napping during the daytime more than twice per week.

CONCLUSION: Analysis of the sleep pattern of male medical students revealed that this group is sleep deprived, which in turn may affect their academic performance.