Prevalence of and risk factors for poor sleep quality among residents in training in KSA

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of and risk factors for poor sleep quality among medical residents in KSA.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on residents in programmes supervised by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. An anonymous, self-administered, web-based survey using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was done. The study received ethical approval from the institutional review board of the King Saud University College of Medicine, Riyadh, KSA.

A total of 1205 residents responded to the survey. A high prevalence of 86.3% of poor sleep quality was recorded. When grouped by specialty, anaesthesia residents had the highest prevalence of poor sleep quality (96%), whereas pathology residents had the lowest prevalence (68.7%). Increased sleep latency was the most common contributor to poor sleep quality, observed in 68.4% of residents at least once a week. Poor sleep quality was further stratified based on median PSQI scores into stages 1 (46.9%) and 2 (39.4%). Using multivariate logistic regression, the age group of those between 27 and 29 years (p = 0.012) covering on-call cases (p ≤ 0.01) or working shifts (p < 0.001) was significantly associated with stage 2 poor sleep quality.

Poor sleep quality is highly prevalent among medical residents in KSA. Increased sleep latency and short sleep duration were the most reported sleep distractors. On-call scheduling and shift work were major risk factors for poor sleep quality. Training programmes should abide by the 80-hour weekly limit and integrate wellness programmes into the curriculum.