The Effect of Sleepiness on Quality of Life among Medical Students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

Abstract

Despite the improvement in quality of life (QoL) in adults, sleepiness is one of the most common causes of poor QoL. This problem has negatively affected medical students due to the extended duration of study time, academic overload, and increasing lifestyle demands. Excessive sleepiness in medical students can put them at high risk of depression and anxiety disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between sleepiness and QoL in medical students and assess the degree of sleepiness and QoL.
A longitudinal correlational design study was conducted in KSA between January and May 2023. A self-administered questionnaire was used, which included demographic data, the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), and the WHOQoL-BREF. The total number of respondents was 210. However, 173 respondents completed the survey. A significant negative relationship was found between sleepiness and QoL. In terms of QoL domains, sleepiness had a significant effect only on the environment domain. The majority of the respondents (67.05%) did not exhibit sleepiness, while 32.94% did. The WHOQoL-BREF results showed that most respondents had a good QoL (43.35%), while 4.05% had poor QoL. In the second dataset, the total number of respondents was 196, of whom 166 completed the survey. The majority of the students (60.84%) had no sleepiness issues, while 39.16% did. WHOQoL-BREF results revealed that most of the respondents (51.20%) have a good QoL (n=85), while only 2.41% have a bad QoL (n=4). Our analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between sleepiness and the psychological (p<0.05) and physical (p<0.01) QoL domains, while other domains were not significant (p>0.05). Major changes, like reorganizing academic activities, providing individualized mentoring, and setting aside time for study and leisure, are effective in helping students manage their time.