Role of sleep on alertness among medical students from a tertiary care hospital, Thrissur district, Kerala: cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Alertness and ability to perform vary as functions of homeostatic factors such as sleep duration, sleep quality, and time awake. As far as medical students are concerned, alertness during the lectures is important due to their vast curriculum, and their alertness aids in the development of better doctors in their future. Though the importance of sleep is known, there is scarcity of studies on how adequate sleep among medical students affects their alertness during lecture classes. The aim was to study effect of sleep duration on alertness among medical students from a tertiary care hospital in Thrissur district, Kerala.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students and alertness was assessed following afternoon lecture classes, using a Stanford sleepiness scale questionnaire. The sample size was calculated with a formula 4PQ/d2 and total 202 undergraduate students were included. The data regarding overnight sleep duration and post lunch nap was also collected using a semi-structured questionnaire.Results: Based on stanford sleepiness scale 66.3% of students were alert and responsive, 29.2% were not alert and only 4.5% of students were sleepy following afternoon lecture classes. Out of total 202 undergraduate students 43.6% of them had poor overnight sleep and only 32.7% had taken post lunch nap. There was a statistically significant association between alertness and post lunch nap (p=0.01).Conclusions: Those students who had good overnight sleep and post lunch nap had better alertness during lecture classes.