Abstract
Good sleep health is a key component to good personal well-being. It has been postulated that veterinary students have poor sleep health, but few measurements have been undertaken. This study measured Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale values at multiple points throughout an academic year for students in a veterinary medical curriculum. Students were found to have overall poor sleep quality and above average to excessive daytime sleepiness. Further investigation is necessary to determine specific causes as well as what action can be taken to improve student sleep health.
Highlights
Good sleep health is a critical and integral component of good personal health and wellness [1, 2]
88% of practicing veterinarians who responded stated that veterinary medicine is very stressful, 66% stated that they had clinical levels of depression, and 20% reported seriously considering suicide [10]
Females (M = 9.65, SD = 4.55) reported significantly higher sleepiness scores compared to males (M = 8.57, SD = 4.49)
Summary
Good sleep health is a critical and integral component of good personal health and wellness [1, 2]. Sleeping less than the recommended number of hours has been associated with a range of health problems including hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and suicide [5, 6]. Personal wellness and health are serious and ongoing issues in veterinary medicine [7]. 88% of practicing veterinarians who responded stated that veterinary medicine is very stressful, 66% stated that they had clinical levels of depression, and 20% reported seriously considering suicide [10]. A survey of veterinary students revealed a bevy of wellness problems: headaches, sleep disturbance, overly busy thinking, inability to concentrate, increase or decrease in food intake, procrastination, depression, feeling overwhelmed, and chronic tiredness [11]
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