Sleepiness, sleep deprivation, quality of life, mental symptoms and perception of academic environment in medical students.

Background: It has been previously shown that a high percentage of medical students have sleep problems that interfere with academic performance and mental health.

Methods: To study the impact of sleep quality, daytime somnolence, and sleep deprivation on medical students, we analyzed data from a multicenter study with medical students in Brazil (22 medical schools, 1350 randomized medical students). We applied questionnaires of daytime sleepiness, quality of sleep, quality of life, anxiety and depression symptoms and perception of educational environment.

Results: 37.8% of medical students presented mild values of daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale - ESS) and 8.7% presented moderate/severe values. The percentage of female medical students that presented ESS values high or very high was significantly greater than male medical students (p <  0.05). Students with lower ESS scores presented significantly greater scores of quality of life and perception of educational environment and lower scores of depression and anxiety symptoms, and these relationships showed a dose-effect pattern. Medical students reporting more sleep deprivation showed significantly greater odds ratios of presenting anxiety and depression symptoms and lower odds of good quality of life or perception of educational environment.

Conclusions: There is a significant association between sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness with the perception of quality of life and educational environment in medical students.