Sleep wake pattern analysis: Study of 131 medical s tudents

Objective: Sleep is part of the rhythm of life. Without a good sleep the mind is less adapts, mood is altered and the body loses the ability to refresh. The sleep wake cycle of the students is quite different and characterized by delayed onset, partial sleep deprivation, poor sleep quality, insufficient sleep duration and occurrence of napping episodes during the day The aim of the present study is to know sle ep wake pattern in medical student, role of residence and individual characterization on sleep wake cycle. Design: Cross sectional Study. Participants: There are 131 first year medical students of the Sm t. NHL Municipal Medical College. Measurements and Results: All the students answered the Portuguese version of the Horne & Östberg Morningness and Eveningness questionnaire, the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and kept a sleep diary for two weeks. We analyzed 131 students, 51 residing at hostel and 80 residing at home, with mean PSQI 6.55 and 7.48 respectively (PSQI >5 = poor sleep quality). Sleep diary analysis of morning and evening type group shows delayed sleep onset in later group (23.45 ± 1.14 vs. 1.15 ± 0.50 hrs). We also found reduced sleep duration during weekdays and extended sleep duration during weekends in evening type students and vice-a-versa in morning type of students. Conclusion: We found poor sleep quality in medical student irrespective of residence. Poor sleep quality and s leep deprivation is more pronounced in evening type of the students and partial compensation found on weekends. Morning type students adjust their life better than evening type and manage their academic schedule