ABSTRACT
Background: Sleep circadian rhythm is influenced by physiological control and any change in this cycle effects individual cognitive functions
Objectives: To study sleep-wake pattern and academic performance of medical students at Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur
Participants and Method: This retrospective study was carried out on 258 students, selected by convenient sampling technique, of which 108 were males and 150 were females. They were asked to fill a specially designed questionnaire regarding their sleep pattern after admission in the medical college and academic performance in the medical college. This was compared with their pre-medical performance
Results: Majority [52.3%] of participants reported a decreased sleep duration in the medical college and they scored 60-70% marks in their last professional examination. About one-fourth [24%] of students reported an increased sleep duration after admission into medical college and they scored less than 60% marks in their last professional examination. Another one-fourth [23.7 %] claimed that they had no change in their sleep duration after admission into medical college, and they scored more than 70 % marks in their last professional examination. All the participants scored more than 85% in their pre-medical examination
Conclusion: Any change in sleep duration, increase or decrease affects the students' performance adversely. Increased sleep duration in the medical college seems more harmful than decreased sleep duration