Influence of circadian rhythm habit on academic performance and body mass index among the medical students in Qassim University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: Based on the significance of sleep quality on academic performance among medical students, this research was conducted to determine the influence of sleep circadian rhythm categories and their impact on the academic performance of medical students and relationship to body mass index (BMI). Methods: A cross-sectional self- administered questionnaire was conducted from September to October 2018 at the College of Medicine in Qassim University. The survey was designed to assess their circadian rhythm habit, academic performance and Body mass index (BMI). The circadian rhythm habit was evaluated using the morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ). Results: The analysis of the BMI with MEQ scores revealed a significant relationship between circadian rhythm habit and BMI (p-value 0.016). The majority of normal weight students fall in intermediate category (71%). Among overweight category 20.5% of the participants fall in moderate evening while 10.3% of the students fall in moderate morning. All the definite morning participant were underweight. There were 126 (62.1%) male students, and 77 (37.9%) female students. For academic performance there were 80 students (39.4%) who had “high” performance, 64 students (31.5%) had “good” performance, 32 students (15.8%) had “normal” performance and 2 students (1%) had “low” performance. Conclusion: This study revealed several sleep dimensions such as sleep-wake schedules, and individual circadian rhythms characteristics may be associated to the deranged BMI and academic results achieved by university students.