Somnolencia diurna excesiva en estudiantes de noveno semestre de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Excessive daytime drowsiness in ninth-semester medical students attending the Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Antecedentes. Tradicionalmente los estudiantes de medicina duermen poco, estudian largas jornadas nocturnas y como consecuencia padecen somnolencia diurna excesiva produciendo disminución en la atención que afecta su calidad de vida y rendimiento académico. Lo anterior se suma a los turnos nocturnos y al pobre conocimiento de higiene del sueño. En Colombia se conoce poco sobre la prevalencia, la gravedad de este síntoma y los efectos en esta población, al igual que en otros grupos como correturnos, vigilantes, personal sanitario, pilotos, militares, etc.

Objetivo. Determinar la incidencia de somnolencia diurna excesiva en estudiantes de noveno semestre de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, quienes realizan turnos nocturnos en las rotaciones asignadas y evaluar su relación con la calidad e higiene de sueño.

Material y métodos. Estudio descriptivo transversal, realizado en una muestra de estudiantes 76,14% (n=83/ 109) de noveno semestre de medicina que aceptaron participar en la investigación mediante consentimiento informado. Se aplicó la escala de somnolencia de Epworth y el índice de calidad de sueño de Pittsburgh validados localmente y el índice de higiene de sueño validado en Perú.

Resultados. Los evaluados tuvieron un promedio de edad de 23 años, presentaron somnolencia diurna excesiva el 60,24% (n=50/83). Se halló 79,52% (n=66/83) de sujetos malos dormidores y 44,58% (n=37/83) con mala higiene de sueño.

Conclusiones. La prevalencia de somnolencia diurna excesiva en la población estudiada es cuantitativamente importante y superior a la hallada en otros estudios, muestra relación con la mala calidad de sueño y con una mala higiene de sueño considerable.

Background. Medical students traditionally sleep very little, study during long nocturnal periods and consequently suffer excessive daytime sleepiness, thereby leading to reduced attention which affects their quality of life and academic performance. The foregoing must be added to night shifts/duty and poor knowledge regarding the hygiene of sleep. Little is known in Colombia about this symptom's prevalence and seriousness or its effects on this population or on other groups such as shift-workers (working double shifts), watchmen, sanitary personnel, pilots, soldiers, etc.

Objective. Determining the incidence of excessive daytime sleepiness in ninth-semester medical students attending the Universidad Nacional de Colombia who were involved in night shifts as part of their assigned rotations and evaluating its relationship with the quality and hygiene of sleep.

Materials and methods. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study which was carried out on a sample of ninth-semester medical students (76.14%; n=83/109) who agreed to participate in the investigation by signing an informed consent form. The Epworth sleepiness scale was applied as was the locally-validated Pittsburgh sleep quality index and sleep hygiene index validated in Peru.

Results. The students being evaluated were 23 years old on average; 60.24% (n=50/83) of them presented excessive daytime sleepiness. It was found that 79.52% (n=66/83) were poor sleepers and 44.58% (n=37/83) had bad sleep hygiene.

Conclusions. The prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness in the population being studied was quantitatively important and higher than that found in other studies, showing a relationship with poor sleep quality and considerable poor sleep hygiene.