SLEEP PATTERNS AND QUALITY AMONG POST-GRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS: IMPACT OF CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

Background: Sleep is critical in overall health, cognitive functioning, and emotional well-being. Postgraduate medical students often experience sleep disturbances due to demanding academic schedules, clinical responsibilities, and stress. Aim and Objective: To evaluate sleep patterns and quality among post-graduate medical students and examine variations based on age, gender, and departmental afliation. Materials and Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted among post-graduate medical students. Sleep patterns were assessed using self-reported sleep diaries, which recorded parameters such as sleep efciency, latency, wake after sleep onset, subjective sleep quality, and morning refreshness. Participants were stratied by age, gender, and departmental afliation (clinical vs. non-clinical). Statistical analyses were performed to compare sleep parameters across groups, with signicance set at p < 0.05. Results: Most participants were aged 25–30 years, with no signicant differences in sleep parameters observed among different age groups. Gender-based comparisons revealed slightly better sleep efciency and subjective sleep quality in females than males, though these differences were not statistically signicant. Clinical students demonstrated signicantly poorer subjective sleep quality (mean score 2.52 vs. 1.24; p = 0.006) and morning refreshness (mean score 2.62 vs. 1.20; p = 0.003) than non-clinical students. Sleep efciency, sleep onset latency, and wake after sleep onset did not signicantly differ between the two groups. Conclusion: Clinical post-graduate students experience signicantly poorer sleep quality and reduced morning refreshness than their non-clinical counterparts, likely due to the demanding nature of clinical training. No signicant variations in sleep patterns were observed across age groups or genders. These ndings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including work schedule optimization and stress management strategies, to improve this population's sleep health and overall well-being. Future research should explore longitudinal trends and the effectiveness of these interventions.