SLEEP QUALITY ASSESMENT AMONG MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

Sleep is an active process, essential for our health and wellbeing. It helps in memory reinforcement, thermoregulation, immune system activation, hormone secretion etc. Along with diet and exercise, sleep is one of the three pillars of health. Despite knowing everything about the benefits of a good sleep, doctors themselves are often sleep deprived. Extended working hours, interrupted sleep, and shift work are integral parts of our medical profession. The need for 24-hour patient care result in prolonged working hours and these long, erratic working hours lead to acute and chronic sleep deprivation and poor sleep quality, resulting in numerous adverse consequences. Impairments may occur in several domains, including attention, cognition, motor skills, and mood. Doctors performance, professionalism, safety, and wellbeing are affected by sleep deprivation, causing potentially adverse implications on patient care. Studies have shown adverse health consequences, motor vehicle accidents, serious medical errors to occur in association with sleep deprivation. A Descriptive study was done in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital to find out the Quality of sleep among Medical Professionals using a standard questionnaire (Pittsburgh sleep quality index) among various cadres of Medical Profession(total of 100 doctors evaluated, 25 each from four cadres physicians, surgeons, non-clinical doctors, super speciality postgraduates).The Sleep quality was assessed under six categoriesduration, disturbance, latency, day dysfunction, sleep efficiency medication needed. Analysis of the data shows that the medical professionals have a significant poor quality of sleep. Over all 54 of the doctors have poor quality sleep, among them surgeons occupy a higher percentage (64) although the sleep efficiency and latency of surgeons being good compared to others. 64 of the Non -clinical doctors have good quality sleep. Clinicians have a poor quality sleep than non-clinicians. Day time efficiency is significantly low among poor sleepers. The sleep quality should have to be improved among doctors.