Assessment of Sleep Quality among Medical Students of Udaipur: A CrossSectional Study

Background: Sleep plays a crucial role in the cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being of individuals,particularly medical students who face intense academic demands and irregular schedules. Poor sleep qualitycan adversely affect academic performance, mental health, and overall quality of life. This study aimed to assessthe sleep quality and its associated factors among medical students in a tertiary care teaching institute inUdaipur, Rajasthan.Objective: To determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality and identify associated sociodemographic andbehavioral factors among undergraduate medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 206 medical students selected through stratifiedrandom sampling. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire and the Pittsburgh SleepQuality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality. A global PSQI score >5 indicated poor sleep. Descriptive statistics,chi-square tests, and p-values <0.05 were used to assess associations between variables.Results: The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 62.6%. The mean global PSQI score was 7.3 ± 3.1. The mostaffected PSQI components included increased sleep latency (71.8%), daytime dysfunction (67.4%), and poorsubjective sleep quality (54.9%). Poor sleep quality was significantly associated with female gender (p=0.04),academic stress (p=0.001), physical inactivity (p=0.01), and screen exposure >1 hour before bed (p=0.002).Poor sleep prevalence increased with academic seniority, with interns reporting the highest rates.Conclusion: A significant proportion of medical students suffer from poor sleep, largely driven by academicstress and unhealthy lifestyle habits. Integrating sleep hygiene education, promoting physical activity, andlimiting screen exposure may help improve sleep quality. Institutional efforts are needed to prioritize studentwell-being as a component of medical education.