A comparative study of sleep habits among medical and non-medical students in Saifai, Etawah

Background: Good quality sleep and adequate amount of sleep are important in order to have better cognitive performance, academic performance and avoid health problems and psychiatric disorders. Sleep disturbance is a distressing and disabling condition that affects many people, and can affect on quality of work and education of students. Thus the aim of the study is to assess and compare the sleep habits of medical and non-medical students in Etawah city.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 college students (100 medical and 100 non-medical) using convenience sample size. A self-questionnaire developed based on Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 23. Mean, standard deviation and t-test is applied for analysis. The Chi square test statistic (χ2) and fisher exact test were used to test the significance of association between various factors.Results: It was observed that mean age of the medical student was 22.8 whereas the mean age of non-medical student was 17.4. Sleep duration of less than 7 hours was seen 60% in medical students and 47% in non-medical students. PSQI score was high in medical students (6.42) in comparison to non-medical students (5.15). A total score of 5 or greater is indicative of poor sleep quality.Conclusions: Despite the numerous studies regarding the subject, students and professionals tend to ignore the sleep disorders and their possible consequences. Proper counselling, better planning and support should be provided to students likely to suffer from sleep disorders.