Quality of Sleep and Burnout Among Undergraduate Medical Students at the University of Nairobi

Abstract

In a pressure prevailing environment, medical students find themselves in a vicious cycle of cutting down on sleep in attempts to cope and adjust to increasing workloads. Students with poor sleep quality have been found to perform worse in their board exam and have strained social engagements. Ultimately this chronic sleep deprivation may lead to burnout which may cause diminished sense of accomplishment and impaired professional conduct, that may be carried on to the career as a physician. The main objective of this study was to determine whether the quality of sleep is associated with burnout among undergraduate medical students at the University of Nairobi. The sample size obtained was 384 and participants were selected by a mixed sampling method. Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires. Ethical considerations were adhered to. Data entry and analysis was by SPSS v23. Data from 336 questionnaires was deemed fit for analysis. With a response rate of 87.5%, the prevalence of poor sleep quality and burnout were 69.9% and 74.7% respectively. There was a positive association between poor sleep quality and female gender, clinical year of study, living with family, a poorly perceived SES and poor subjective academic performance. In addition, being female, younger, in the pre-clinical year, living independently off campus and a poor subjective academic performance were associated with higher levels of burnout. Burnout was positively correlated with poor sleep quality and having poor sleep increased the risk of having burnout by 2.8times. Peer support groups and peer led mentorship programs are recommended within this population to help deal with expectations, challenges and difficulties encountered within the course of medical education, in addition to preparing for the early future careers