Sleep Quality and Daytime Sleepiness among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study across Three Universities in Eastern Sudan

Abstract Objective Medical students are at high risk of poor sleep, which may impair daytime alertness. We estimated the prevalence of poor sleep quality and short sleep duration and examined their association with daytime sleepiness (a proxy for alertness; no direct concentration test was used) among medical students at three universities in Eastern Sudan. Results In this online cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of 125 students (June–August 2026), poor sleep quality (PSQI > 5) affected 60.8% (95% CI 52.0–68.9%) and 50.8% (63/124) slept < 7 hours. Excessive daytime sleepiness (ESS > 10) affected 40.8% (95% CI 32.6–49.6%). PSQI correlated weakly with ESS (ρ = 0.21, p = .019); sleep duration did not (ρ = −0.06, p = .485). ESS did not differ across universities (p = .468). After adjustment for gender, age and study hours, each 1-point higher PSQI was associated with 15% higher odds of excessive sleepiness (OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.02–1.30), but this was not robust in sensitivity analyses. No measured factor predicted poor sleep quality. The cross-sectional design, self-reported measures and small sample preclude causal conclusions.