Abstract
Introduction: Medical university students are one group of students that are in high risk of sleep disorders.
Objectives: In present study, we examined daytime sleepiness among Qazvin University of Medical Sciences students.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in five faculties including medicine, nursing and midwifery, dentistry, para-medicine and health in Qazvin in 2017. Around 400 students from these five faculties were randomly selected by using sample size formula. For measuring students’ daytime sleepiness, we used Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). This questionnaire has eight questions and examines the chance of falling asleep in daily situations. The total score in this questionnaire ranges from 0 to 24. Score between 0-5, 6-10, 11-12, 13-15 and 16-24 indicate lower normal daytime sleepiness, higher normal daytime sleepiness, mild excessive daytime sleepiness, moderate excessive daytime sleepiness and severe excessive daytime sleepiness respectively.
Results: Around 400 students totally from these five faculties participated in the study. Of all, 63.3% were female. The mean age was 20.8± 2.5 years. The mean score of total daytime sleepiness was 17.9±3.6. Higher and lower mean score were related to items “sitting and talking with someone” and “sitting quietly after lunch”, respectively. Demographics characteristics did not affect students’ daytime sleepiness significantly (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The present study showed that daytime sleepiness is prevalent among students in medical universities. There is a need to increase the attention to this problem and planning to decrease it.