Salivary melatonin levels and quality of sleep in second year medical students Antenor Orrego Private University of Trujillo ‐ Peru (LB753)

Abstract

The goals were to determine the salivary melatonin levels and sleep quality in second year students of Human Medicine of the Antenor Orrego Private University. Of the 268 medical students enrolled in the semester 2013 ‐ I, 40 students were selected by simple random method and met the inclusion criteria. Saliva samples were taken at the beginning, middle and end of the academic semester on Wednesday and Thursday at home at 23:30 and 24 hours. Melatonin levels were determined by ELISA and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was applied to students. A total of 40 individuals were included in the study: 27 women, 13 men with mean age of 18.45 years (range 16 ‐ 24). Melatonin levels at the start ‐ half 23:30 to 24 hours (p <0.05), start ‐ end 23:30 (p <0.05) and mid ‐ end (p <0.01). The PSQI presented a Cronbach's alpha of 0.553 and averages were 5.9 at the beginning of the semester, middle 7.175 and end 7.475 (p <0.05). Melatonin levels decreased at the beginning and end of the academic semester and according to the PSQI, medical students have poor sleep quality.Grant Funding Source: Antenor Orrego Private University