Background: Sleep disturbances are a major problem among medical students. A significant decrease in sleep and sleep quality throughout populations has increased job and social pressures. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sleep disturbances among medical students and assess its effect on their academic achievement.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 303 male and female medical college students at Jouf University, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Male and female students from the first to fifth grade who accepted to participate in the study were included. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to measure the quality and pattern of sleep.
Results: The current study found that according to the PSQI, 13.2% of the students scored a good quality of sleep, and 86.8% of the students suffered from poor quality of sleep. The data showed that 90% of the students who have a good quality of sleep have satisfactory academic achievement.
Conclusions: Poor sleep quality was high (86.8%) among medical students, and those with good sleep quality had better academic achievement, so efforts are needed to reduce the burden on these students.
Key words: Sleep disturbance, prevalence, medical students, academic achievement, Saudi Arabia
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