Deepa Rajendran 1 , Karthika M2 , Prathibha M. T 3 , Vinod P. B 4
BACKGROUND Relationship between sleep pattern and academic performance of students is well accepted. The studies relating the sleep pattern of medical students and academic performance is limited. This study was conducted to identify sleep pattern of medical students and find out any relationship between sleep pattern and academic performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire-based study was carried out to assess sociodemographic parameters, sleep/wake timing, sleep duration, daytime sleepiness and academic performance. Academic performance was measured on the basis of the aggregate marks scored for the previous year university exam. RESULTS The study population included 349 students with a mean age of 21.4±1.1years. The student’s average weekday bedtime, rise time and total sleep time was 12:02a.m., 07:03a.m. and 7.23hrs., respectively. The corresponding values for weekends were 12:25a.m., 08:17a.m. and 08:18hrs. Mean sleep duration of night prior to exam was 5.16±1.50.Students with earlier bed/rise time and longer hours of sleep night prior to exam had better academic performance. CONCLUSION Academic performance of medical students showed significant negative correlation with sleep/wake timings and positive correlation with duration of sleepnight before examination.
