[Relationship Between Sleep Quality, Smartphone Addiction, and Academic GPA in Medical Students]

Abstract

Sleep quality and smartphone use are factors that could influence academic performance, since sleep deprivation decreases concentration and smartphone use is related to not planning work.

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between sleep quality and smartphone addiction with the grade point average (GPA) in medical students.

Methods: Analytical cross-sectional study. 181 medical students were included. Data were collected through an electronic survey. Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), smartphone addiction with the Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short Version (SAS-SV) and GPA based on the average of the last semester. Chi2, t-test and Wilcoxon tests were used to analyze the relationship between the variables.

Results: The students were 116 (64.09%) female and 65 (35.91%) male. The median age was 22 years (IQR 21-24). The ICSP results were 91 (50.28%) with poor sleep quality and 90 (49.72%) with good sleep quality. The SAS-SV results were 119 (65.75%) without smartphone addiction and 62 (34.25%) with smartphone addiction. The GPA was 3.96 (SD ±0.66). A significant difference was found between the GPA of the group of students without smartphone addiction and GPA of the group of students with smartphone addiction (p value 0.0007). A significant difference was also observed in the sleep efficiency of the group of students without smartphone addiction and the sleep efficiency of the group of students with smartphone addiction (p value 0.0425).

Conclusion: The GPA and sleep efficiency are lower in medical students with smartphone addiction.