A new research by local scholars has found that medical students in Rwanda sleep 5.5 hours per night on average, as they dedicate much of the time to their intensive academic schedules.

Published last week, the study was carried out by a team that comprised doctors, pharmacists, and psychologists, who aimed at assessing sleep quality among undergraduate medical students in Rwanda.

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Using a psychometric tool that provides a reliable, valid, and standardized measure of sleep quality, the study was carried out among 290 medical students from the University of Rwanda (UR), University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), and the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA).

Responding to the questionnaires, medical students were found to have five and a half hours of sleep per night on average, despite the health recommendations that young adults should sleep for seven hours or above per night.

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The research did not attempt to investigate the outcomes of lack of sleep on the medical students, but according to general science, sleeping less than 7 hours is associated with poor general health, increased risks for chronic diseases, medical errors, and a decrease in academic performance.

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The study also found that more than half of medical students (53.5 percent) had difficulties falling asleep, as they take longer than 15 minutes to sleep.

In fact, 6.6 percent (more than 60) of the surveyed students said they used sleeping pills to be able to sleep.

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However, the researchers noted that the difficulty in falling asleep among Rwandan medical students is less worrisome as the study compared its findings with similar research carried out in other countries.

Here for example, in Saudi Arabia, 65.1 percent of medical students took more than 15 minutes before falling asleep, while the same was true for 72 percent of medical students in Brazil.

Besides academic challenges, the study also hinted at the fact that final-year medical students encounter financial hardships that raise their stress levels, and in turn worsen their sleep quality.