Assessment of Sleep Quality and Duration of Medical Students in Enugu State College of Medicine

Sleep is a physiological behaviour that occurs in all animal species forming about one – third of human life and is essential for survival. Prolonged sleep deprivation leads to severe physical impairment usually accompanied by cognitive loss and can even lead to death. Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body, characterized by relatively inhibited sensory activity and reduced interactions with surroundings, altered consciousness, reduced muscle activity and inhibition of nearly all voluntary eye muscles. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating the impact of various sleep duration among students and the effect on their academic performance. Using a simple random method of sampling, questionnaires were physically distributed among medicine and surgery students of ESUT College of medicine and 265 students participated. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) with a value of <0.05 considered significant. From the analysis of the data retrieved from the questionnaire, it was observed that during a regular school week, majority of students (27.5%) obtained 6 hours of sleep, while the night prior to an examination, of students (27.9%) obtained 4 hours of sleep. Also, 68.7% of students believe that insufficient sleep has a negative impact on memory consolidation, while 31.3% believes otherwise. In conclusion from the results, the study suggests that students should be educated regarding good sleep hygiene practices as this has a positive effect on their academic performance. Keywords: Sleep Quality, Duration and Medical Students