Influence of Altered Sleep Patterns on Health-Related Quality of Life and Academic Performance Among Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

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.