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Prevalence of sleep disorders and their impact on academic performance in medical students/University of Duhok

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Abstract

Full-time students experiencing high levels of stress due to a high bulk of teaching materials and academic performance demands are the most susceptible population class for different types of sleep disorders. The current study examined the prevalence of sleep disorders and their impacts on academic performance of a random sample of medical college students. In this regard, a random sample of 316 medical students of a large public university in Iraq participated in a cross-sectional study. The participants completed the SLEEP-50 self-reported questionnaire and questions about socio-demographic factors. The variables set included sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, sleepwalking, nightmares, grade point average, and some socio-demographic characteristics. The study showed that to some extent, the students suffer from different types of sleep disorders with no substantial difference between males and females. Students with worse level of sleep disorders had a lower grade point average compared with those with normal sleep patterns (p = 0.001). The study confirmed that students with sleep disorders had poorer academic performance at college.

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Acknowledgements

The authors present their deep gratitude to the students and college deaneries for their assistance in conducting the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq

    Rasoul S. Piro, Salim S. Azzez & Deldar M. Abdulah

  2. College of Medicine, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq

    Salim S. Miho Alhakem

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  1. Rasoul S. Piro
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  2. Salim S. Miho Alhakem
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  3. Salim S. Azzez
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  4. Deldar M. Abdulah
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deldar M. Abdulah.

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The authors were the only supporters and sponsors of the study.

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On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

Verbal consent was taken from all participants before conducting the research. Only one student refused to give any information to the authors and a few students did not return the questionnaires. Their right was guaranteed. Ethical Committee Permission Number: 09022017-2.

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Informed consent was obtained.

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Piro, R.S., Alhakem, S.S.M., Azzez, S.S. et al. Prevalence of sleep disorders and their impact on academic performance in medical students/University of Duhok. Sleep Biol. Rhythms 16, 125–132 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-017-0134-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-017-0134-6

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