Sabu Agna, Ghosh Parvathy, K Sarika, Ks Sangeeth, Varma Nk Sapna, Vallikat Velath Ajith
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Amrita School of Dentistry, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, IND.
Cureus. 2025 Jun 23;17(6):e86624. doi: 10.7759/cureus.86624. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Background Sleep plays a vital role in maintaining cognitive function, emotional well-being, and academic performance. Dental students often face unique stressors, such as demanding academic schedules, clinical responsibilities, and irregular sleep patterns, which may negatively affect their sleep quality and overall health. In the Indian context, limited research has explored how sleep-related issues impact both the academic and clinical performance of dental students. This study aimed to assess sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, sleep deprivation, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and to examine their association with academic performance among students of a dental college in India. Materials and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 102 undergraduate dental students of Kerala. Validated questionnaires were distributed through electronic mail using Google Forms (Google, Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA), which assessed sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), daytime sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), HRQoL using the SF-36 questionnaire, the Sleep Deprivation Index (SDI), and academic performance using self-reported grade point average (GPA). Pearson correlation tested associations, with p ≤ 0.05 considered significant. Results Of the 102 students, 83 were females and 19 were males, with a mean age of 20 years. The mean ESS score was 8.40 ± 4.66, and 30.3% (n = 31) of students exhibited daytime somnolence. The mean PSQI score was 6.29 ± 2.5, and 63.7% (n = 65) of students had a global score greater than 5, indicating poor sleep quality. HRQoL was evaluated under eight different categories, with the domains of fatigue, emotional well-being, and emotional problems showing lower scores. The relationship between quality of sleep and academic performance revealed a strong negative correlation (Pearson correlation = -0.796, R² = 0.634, p = 0.00), which was statistically significant. However, there was no statistically significant association between excessive daytime sleepiness and academic performance. Conclusions The present study concluded that poor sleep quality, as determined by a higher PSQI score, was associated with poor academic performance. Additionally, the dental students frequently experienced excessive daytime sleepiness and psychological distress.
背景 睡眠在维持认知功能、情绪健康和学业表现方面起着至关重要的作用。牙科专业学生经常面临独特的压力源，如繁重的学业安排、临床职责以及不规律的睡眠模式，这些可能会对他们的睡眠质量和整体健康产生负面影响。在印度的背景下，有限的研究探讨了与睡眠相关的问题如何影响牙科专业学生的学业和临床表现。本研究旨在评估睡眠质量、日间嗜睡、睡眠剥夺以及健康相关生活质量（HRQoL），并检验它们与印度一所牙科学院学生学业表现之间的关联。
材料与方法 对喀拉拉邦的102名本科牙科专业学生进行了一项横断面研究。使用谷歌表单（谷歌公司，美国加利福尼亚州山景城）通过电子邮件分发经过验证的问卷，该问卷使用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数（PSQI）评估睡眠质量，使用爱泼华嗜睡量表（ESS）评估日间嗜睡，使用SF - 36问卷评估HRQoL，使用睡眠剥夺指数（SDI），并使用自我报告的平均绩点（GPA）评估学业表现。采用Pearson相关性检验关联性，p≤0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
结果 在102名学生中，83名是女性，19名是男性，平均年龄为20岁。ESS平均得分为8.40±4.66，30.3%（n = 31）的学生表现出日间嗜睡。PSQI平均得分为6.29±2.5，63.7%（n = 65）的学生整体得分大于5，表明睡眠质量较差。HRQoL在八个不同类别下进行评估，疲劳、情绪健康和情绪问题领域得分较低。睡眠质量与学业表现之间的关系显示出强烈的负相关性（Pearson相关性 = -0.796，R² = 0.634，p = 0.00），具有统计学意义。然而，日间过度嗜睡与学业表现之间没有统计学上的显著关联。
结论 本研究得出结论，由较高的PSQI得分所确定的睡眠质量差与学业表现差有关。此外，牙科专业学生经常经历日间过度嗜睡和心理困扰。
