Objective: To identify sleep patterns and frequency of daytime sleepiness and to assess the association between sleep duration and academic performance among student pharmacists.
Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. An anonymous self-administered paper questionnaire was administered to first-year through third-year students at a pharmacy school.
Results: Questionnaires were completed by 364 student pharmacists (79.4% response rate and 93.8% cooperation rate). More than half of student pharmacists obtained less than 7 hours of sleep at night during a typical school week (54.7%) and a large majority on the night prior to an examination (81.7%). Almost half (47.8%) felt daytime sleepiness almost every day. Longer sleep duration the night prior to an examination was associated with higher course grades and semester grade point averages (GPAs).
Conclusion: A majority of student pharmacists had suboptimal durations of sleep, defined as fewer than 7 hours. Adequate sleep the night prior to an examination was positively associated with student course grades and semester GPAs.
Keywords: academic performance; grade; pharmacy; sleep; students.