title: Sleep quality among medical students of Karachi, Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterise sleep quality and assess degree of daytime sleepiness among medical students of Karachi.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional study was conducted between August and December 2013 and subjects were recruited from five haphazardly selected medical colleges in Karachi. A convenience sample of medical students underwent two validated self-administered questionnaires i.e. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 650 students approached, 504(77.5%) subjects completely filled out the questionnaires. Of them, 300(59.5%) were females and 204(40.5%) were males. Overall mean age was 20±1.4 years. Of them, 199(39.5%) were classified as "Poor Sleepers". Poor sleep quality was associated with female gender (p <0.05), excessive daytime sleepiness (p <0.05), total hours slept (p <0.001) and sleep disturbances (p <0.001). Bed-timing analysis showed 365(72%) students went to bed after midnight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sleep quality among Pakistani medical students was significantly poor. Efforts must be directed towards proper sleep hygiene education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Arif Anwer
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Surani
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sohaib
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zahid
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Asif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Surani
authors.affiliation: Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Salman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Medical Student (4th Year), Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mubeen
authors.affiliation: Medical Student (4th Year), Liaquat College of Medicine and Dentistry, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Reem Halim
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D012890:Sleep; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Sleep quality, Medical student, Excessive daytime sleepiness, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, Epworth sleepiness scale.