Daytime sleepiness and academic performance among Arab medical students
Clinical Update Sleep Abstracts

Daytime sleepiness and academic performance among Arab medical students

Jamaan M. Al-Zahrani1, Khaled K. Aldossari1, Imad Abdulmajeed2, Sameer H. Al-Ghamdi1, Abdullah M. Al-Shamrani1, Nawaf S. Al-Qahtani1

1College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia; 2Community Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia


Background: The study aimed to examine the prevalence of daytime sleepiness among medical students and to explore its relationship with academic performance.

Methods: A total of 161 consenting Saudi male medical students aged 18 and above participated in this cross-sectional survey done in Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia. All subjects answered a generalized questionnaire that was piloted and included information on demographics and Epworth-sleepiness scale (ESS).

Results: Excessive daytime sleepiness was observed in 37.8% of the subjects. Only 22 (13.7%) of the subjects had less than 4 hours of sleep while majority (70.8%) fell within 4–8 hours. Comparison between subjects with normal sleep versus those with excessive daytime sleepiness revealed no significant differences, including Grade Point Average (GPA) scores.

Conclusions: Excessive daytime sleepiness is common among Saudi male medical students and this does not seem to influence GPA scores. Prospective studies are needed to validate the present findings.


doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2016.AB006


Cite this abstract as: Al-Zahrani JM, Aldossari KK, Abdulmajeed I, Al-Ghamdi SH, Al-Shamrani AM, Al-Qahtani NS. Daytime sleepiness and academic performance among Arab medical students. J Thorac Dis 2016;8(2):AB006. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2016.AB006

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