Exploring Sleep Hygiene Practices and Their Relation to Sleep Quality among Medical Students at Nishtar Medical University Multan

Abstract

Abstract:

Background: Sleep quality is particularly important for medical students who often face demanding schedules, high stress levels and an atypical sleep pattern.

Objective: To evaluate subjective sleep quality among medical students and its association with sleep hygiene practices.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study design was carried out on 385 undergraduate medical students enrolled through simple random sampling. The questionnaire had three sections. The first part covered demographic information; the second part evaluated subjective sleep quality by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; and the third part was related to a 13-item sleep hygiene questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Pearson chi-square test was employed to identify the factors linked to deprived sleep quality. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: This study revealed that 55.3% of medical students experienced poor sleep quality with a mean PSQI score of 5.17+3.71, which was mostly influenced by subjective sleep quality. 45.19% of the study participants reported poor sleep hygiene practices. The analysis revealed that students with habits of watching television, a lack of exercise and taking daytime naps slept worse. A significant association was observed between poor sleep quality and deficient sleep hygiene practices (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Insufficient sleep hygiene practices are prevalent among students with poor sleep quality. Sleep hygiene education programs must be given due consideration because these will ultimately improve future doctors’ health and enhance their performance in the long term