Abstract
Poor sleep quality has been reported to be common amongst medical students and healthcare professionals worldwide. Sleep disturbance has been associated with increased rates of burnout and depression. As a result, this has been negatively impacting performance and functioning. Research on this topic is limited in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study is aimed at exploring sleep pattern and the emotional state of medical and dental students in Dubai, UAE. This cross-sectional study was based on an electronic survey sent to 181 medical and dental students. Of the 181 invitations, 96 individuals agreed to participate and complete the rating scales. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was utilized to explore sleep duration, quality, and daytime functioning. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale was used to assess the emotional states of the participants. Overall, the findings revealed diminished sleep duration. The average duration of sleep amongst the study participants was 5 hours and 24 minutes, which is significantly below the recommended duration as per sleep guidelines. Results also showed a significant positive correlation between total sleep duration and overall sleep quality with enthusiasm during the day. Future research designed to explore factors contributing to sleep efficiency, in more depth, as well as strategies to enhance sleep quality is highly warranted.
Highlights
Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions that affect an individual’s mood, thinking, and behaviour [1]
“Poor sleep quality was present in 30%, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in 40%, and insomnia symptoms in 33% of students” according to a study conducted on 305 medical students [5]
The mean age of both groups was approximately 20 years. 94% were from the medical college and only 6% percent were from the dental college
Summary
Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions that affect an individual’s mood, thinking, and behaviour [1]. Adopting good sleep hygiene results in enhanced physical and psychological wellbeing, e.g., improved cardiovascular function, metabolism, immune system, attention, cognition, memory, and mood regulation [2]. Research has shown that lack of sleep was associated with a significant adverse impact in performance in exams [3]. Studies have shown high rates of inadequate sleep amongst medical students [4]. “Poor sleep quality was present in 30%, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in 40%, and insomnia symptoms in 33% of students” according to a study conducted on 305 medical students [5]. Other studies conducted on medical students and on youth report a significant presence of emotional exhaustion and significant reduction in sleep quality in the majority of the participants [6, 7]
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