Sleep Management Strategies Among Medical Students At the University of Otago

ABSTRACT

Objectives

We aim to investigate factors which might affect the sleep of medical students, and how they currently manage their sleep.

Methods

An online survey was sent to medical students at the University of Otago.

Results

After adjusting for gender, ethnicity and age, depressive symptoms (Mild: odds ratio (OR) = 6.3; Moderate: OR = 18.1; Severe: OR = 15.6), and sleep hygiene (OR = 1.07) were associated with insomnia symptoms. Commonly endorsed strategies for sleep management by students were undertaking regular exercise (80.1%), having consistent sleep-wake time (71.3%), and limiting caffeine intake (70.3%). Few were willing to see a clinician (23.4%) or take medication (22.3%). Participants with insomnia symptoms were more likely to prefer limiting their alcohol intake (OR = 1.8), limiting daytime naps (OR = 1.5), seeing clinicians (OR = 1.9), and taking sleep medication (OR = 4.0), but less likely to prefer avoiding intense work (OR = .71) or minimizing using electronics (OR = .60) close to bedtime than those without insomnia symptoms. High sleep self-efficacy was associated with lower odds for having insomnia symptoms (OR = .74 (.70, .77)).

Conclusions

Increased awareness and greater resources are needed to support the sleep health of medical students.

Acknowledgments

We thank Jude Hodge, Jillian Tourelle, Carol Milnes, Ruth Helms, Ann Thornton for their assistance in distributing our survey to the medical students in all campuses.

Data availability

Data are not deposited in a repository.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors contribution

Conceptualization: EW, KSH, SD, SG; Methodology: EW, KSH, SD, SG, LB; Data analyses: CC, EW, CD; Writing – CD, CC, EW, KSH, SD, SG, LB, BS; Supervision – EW; Funding acquisition – EW, KSH, SD

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2022.2127723

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by a funding from the Oakley Mental Health Research Foundation to Dr. Erik Wibowo. Cassian Duthie and Shenyll Delpachitra were funded by this fund. Additional funding comes from the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago.