Abstract

PREVALENCE OF EXCESSIVE DAYTIME SLEEPINESS (EDS) AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS

Srihari Ramamoorthy, Manikandan Mohandas, Prema Sembulingam,
Vimala Rani Swaminathan

Abstract

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a common symptom shared by recent lifestyle modification-induced sleep disorders. Literature shows increase in EDS among medical students worldwide. This study aims at estimating the prevalence of EDS among medical students in southern part of south India. Participants were healthy volunteers of male (65) and female (56) students between the age group 18-25yrs (n=121). EDS was diagnosed using Epworth Sleepiness Scale. Results showed that overall prevalence of EDS was to be 30.57%. Among this males were 52.06% and females were 47.10% showing that females had better sleep quality than males. The study concludes that prevalence of EDS is higher among medical students in this part of the country compared to the north India (17.30%). It requires early detection of EDS and timely intervention to avoid physiological and psychological complications.

Keywords: Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Medical students.