Sleep Disorders among Dental Students: An Original Research

INTRODUCTION: With the increased stress among the students, their sleep patterns have been derailed from the routine. Hence, in our study, we aimed to appraise among the dental students the occurrence of sleep disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a questionnaire-based survey study among 1115 dental students of 1–4 years. The survey was based on SLEEP-50 that had 50 questions that were given scores from 1 to 4 based on the response. The scores were analyzed for the statistical connotation, keeping P < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS: We observed that 352 students suffered from sleep disorders. The sex ratio of male:female was 25:75. No significant age variation was seen. For the various disorders, insomnia (25%), nightmares (13%), and sleepwalk (8%), circadian rhythm disorders (34%), obstructive sleep apnea (26%), and narcolepsy (30%) were noted with significant variation. The habit of alcohol was seen in 17% of students. CONCLUSIONS: The sleep disorders were prevalent among the dental students due to the great amount of stress caused in the study. They should be educated about the stress management methods and importance of sleep.