Web survey during COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo state: how are medical students sleeping and living?

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed at characterizing medical students’ sleep and life quality during the COVID-19 pandemic in São Paulo (SP) state. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All public higher education institutions (HEIs) of SP state were invited to participate. From a list of 56 private HEIs, 16 were randomly selected. The web survey collected: sociodemographic data; factors related to COVID-19; sleep self-assessment; scores in the Epworth sleepiness scale, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, and student and resident life in the health area - questionnaire. RESULTS: The HEIs’ acceptance rate was 25% (8), resulting in 200 participants (response rate 5.04%), aged ≥18 years, 60.5% females. Concerning COVID-19, 89.00% never showed symptoms and/or tested positive, 82.00% declared full adherence to epidemiological measures to prevent the infection’s spread, and 45.00% completed the vaccination schedule against SARS-CoV-2. Sleep deprivation was accompanied by a drop of self-perceived sleep quality from 8 to 6 (in a Likert scale) during COVID-19 pandemics (p≤0.0001), 76.50% were poor sleepers, and 40.00% had drowsiness, especially women (p≤0.05). They also had lower quality of life and unfavorable psychological and physical outcomes than men (p≤0.05). Internship students had a more negative perception of the educational environment (p≤0.05), characterized by an excessive workload. DISCUSSION: Women and internship students are a representative fraction that requires special attention and focused strategies to cope with sleep problems and medical education during COVID-19 pandemics.