Sleep quality and its association with psychological distress and sleep hygiene: a cross-sectional study among pre-clinical medical students

Objective: This study aimed to investigate subjective sleep quality and its association with demographics, psychological health, and sleep hygiene related behaviors in pre-clinical medical students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire consisting of demographics, sleep hygiene behaviors, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS21) was handed out to all medical students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences at pre-clinical stage. Results: The questionnaire was filled out by 553 (89.7%) of 616 students approached. About 60% of our sample had a global PSQI score of more than 5 (cut off of poor sleep quality) with mean global PSQI score of 6.32 (SD=2.72). The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe depression, anxiety and stress scores were 26.1%, 29.61%, and 14.5% respectively. Poor sleep quality was associated with later year in the school, psychological distress and several lifestyle behaviors. Constructing a multivariate logistic model, depression, anxiety and some sleep hygiene behaviors were significantly associated with higher PSQI score. Discussion: Our findings suggest that poor sleep quality is a common problem among pre-clinical medical students and is associated with some psychological symptoms and sleep hygiene behaviors. This issue demonstrates necessity of interventions to improve the sleep quality in this population group.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Sleep quality and its association with psychological distress and sleep hygiene: a cross-sectional study among pre-clinical medical students ; volume:11 ; number:04 ; year:2018 ; pages:274-280 ; Sleep science ; 11, Heft 04 (2018), 274-280

Contributors, Places and Time

• Contributor: Rezaei, Mojtaba ; Khormali, Moein ; Akbarpour, Samaneh ; Sadeghniiat-Hagighi, Khosro ; Shamsipour, Mansour

Further information

• DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20180043
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023120714474657009230
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:37 AM CEST