Effects of sleep quality on mental health and academic performance among final-year pharmacy students at a university in Enugu, Nigeria

Pharmacy students have a rigorous academic workload that can interfere with their sleeping time. This study aimed to determine the correlates of sleep quality with mental health and academic performance of final-year pharmacy students at a Nigerian university.

The present study used the paper-based self-administered questionnaires such as the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Patient Health Questionnaire to conduct a cross-sectional study among final-year pharmacy students at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. The questionnaires were validated and reliable, as their Cronbach’s alpha were within acceptable range (α > 0.7). The examination score in clinical pharmacy courses was used to assess students' academic performance. The data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation.

Of the 274 respondents, about 186 (68%) students had bad sleeping habits. The prevalence of anxiety and depression were found to be present in 134 (48.9%) and 128 (46.7%), respectively. Anxiety (r = 0.229, p < 0.01) and depression (r = 0.211, p < 0.01) had a positive relationship with students’ quality of sleep. However, no connection was found between sleep quality and academic performance (r = -0.022, p > 0.05).

The quality of sleep among final-year pharmacy students was linked to anxiety and depression. However, student’s sleep quality has no bearing on academic success.