Perceptions of pre-clerkship medical students and academic advisors about sleep deprivation and its relationship to academic performance: a cross-sectional perspective from Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: The medical student population is believed to be at an increased risk for sleep deprivation. Little is known about students’ perceptions towards sleep deprivation and its relationship to academic performance. The aim of study is to explore the perceptions of medical students and their academic advisors about sleep deprivation and its relationship to academic performance. METHODS: The study took place at Alfaisal University, College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An online, anonymous, cross-sectional, self-rating survey was administered to first-, third-year students and their academic advisors. Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare the mean 5-point Likert scale responses between students according to gender, academic year and cumulative grade point average (cGPA). RESULTS: A total of 259 students and 21 academic advisors participated in the survey (response rates: 70.6 and 84 %, respectively). The vast majority of students agreed that sleep deprivation negatively affects academic performance (78.8 %) and mood (78.4 %). Around 62.2 and 73.7 % of students agreed that the demanding medical curriculum and stress of final exams lead to sleep deprivation, respectively. While 36.7 % of students voiced the need for incorporation of curricular separate courses about healthy sleep patterns into medical curriculum, a much greater proportion of students (45.9 %) expressed interest in extracurricular activities about healthy sleep patterns. Interestingly, only 13.5 % of students affirmed that they were counselled about sleep patterns and academic performance by their academic advisors. There were several statistically significant differences of means of students’ perceptions according to gender, academic year and cGPA. Despite almost all academic advisors (95.5 %) asserted the importance of sleep patterns to academic performance, none (0 %) inquired about sleep patterns when counselling students. Nineteen academic advisors (90.5 %) recommended incorporation of sleep patterns related learning into medical curricula; among those, only 1 (n = 1/19; 5.3 %) recommended learning as a separate course whereas the majority (n = 18/19; 94.7 %) recommended learning in forms of extracurricular activities and integration into relevant ongoing courses. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that students had correct conceptions about the negative impact of sleep deprivation on academic performance and mood. Also, our results highlighted the need for curricular/extracurricular education and counseling about healthy sleep patterns.