EXCESSIVE DAYTIME SLEEPINESS AMONG PHYSICAL THERAPY STUDENTS

Introduction: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is referred to as difficulty staying awake and alert during most of the waking hours of the day resulting in involuntary intervals into drowsiness. Disturbed sleep of an individual can result in adverse health penalties and decreased work potential. In Pakistan, most of the medical fields are under development process and Physical therapy is one of the neglected fields in Pakistan due to poor resources and awareness. Physical Therapy students are considered to be at high risk of developing sleep-related problems as they usually experience poor field satisfaction along with high psychological pressure and academic demands. Therefore, sleep-related problems such as excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep disturbance, and poor sleep quality remain major issues of interest in physical therapy students.

Objective: To describe the daytime sleepiness among Physical Therapy Students of Lahore college of physical therapy Pakistan.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on physical therapy students of Lahore College of Physical Therapy. A total of 114 students were recruited through nonprobability convenience sampling. Data was noted through a self-administered questionnaire. Epworth scale of sleepiness was used to assess the daytime sleepiness among Physical Therapy students and data was analyzed through SPSS version 21.

Results: The majority of participants reported severe daytime sleepiness. In a sample size of 144 (n=114), 11.4% of students reported no daytime sleepiness (score within normal range 1-6), 16.7% of students reported mild to moderate daytime sleepiness (score 7-8), 71.9% of students reported severe daytime sleepiness (score above 9).

Conclusion: In conclusion, most physical therapy students suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness. Efforts directed towards educating physical therapy students about proper sleep hygiene can have a positive impact. 

Keywords: Medical students; excessive daytime sleepiness; Sleep hygiene; Physical Therapy, Anxiety