ASSOCIAÇÃO ENTRE A QUALIDADE DO SONO E O DESEMPENHO ACADÊMICO DE ESTUDANTES DE ENFERMAGEM E MEDICINA DE UMA UNIVERSIDADE PÚBLICA DE ALAGOAS

Chronobiology studies indicate that individuals are regulated by three timers: social, solar, and biological. Environmental and behavioral changes can modify the sleep–wake cycle. Many university students adopt nighttime study habits, interfering with the circadian rhythm. Sleep restriction or poor sleep quality compromises memory and significantly reduces academic performance. This study aimed to verify whether there is an association between sleep quality and academic performance among nursing and medical students at a public university in Alagoas, Brazil. This is an observational, cross-sectional, and quantitative study conducted with 137 Nursing and Medical students, selected through stratified probabilistic sampling. Data collection included a sociodemographic questionnaire to characterize the sample, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire (MCTQ), and academic self-assessment. Data were analyzed for normality, and associations were tested using Pearson and Spearman correlations (SciPy – Python). Among the 137 students, 65.7% were women, 70.1% were between 19 and 24 years old, 67.9% rated their academic performance between 7.0 and 8.9, and 66.4% presented poor sleep quality. Negative correlations between the PSQI and self-assessment variables (r = -0.368; p < 0.001 for Pearson; r = -0.360; p < 0.001 for Spearman) reinforce the importance of sleep quality in the academic context. The findings highlight the urgency of interventions that promote sleep hygiene education and strategies to improve rest quality, reducing the likelihood of problems that may negatively impact students’ academic performance.