Relación entre el estrés académico, calidad del sueño y rendimiento académico en estudiantes de la carrera de medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca

Abstract

Background; the medical field is renowned for its rigorous academic demands and time commitments, placing significant pressure on students. This results in high levels of academic stress that can negatively impact their physical and mental well-being, affecting sleep quality, overall health, and academic performance. Objective to determine the relationship between academic stress, sleep quality, and academic performance among medical students at the University of Cuenca. Methodology; this is a quantitative, cross-sectional, analytical prevalence study. A total of 364 medical students participated. Descriptive variables included: sex, age, residence, origin, academic year, academic stress, sleep quality, and academic performance. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the SISCO SV-21 inventory were used. Data analysis involved frequencies, percentages, measures of central tendency and dispersion, Pearson correlation for hypothesis testing (significance level p <0.05), and prevalence ratio with 95% IC to assess the type of association. Results a statistically significant association was found between academic stress and sleep quality according to Pearson correlation (0.265, p < 0.001). However, no relationship was found between stress and academic performance, nor between sleep quality and academic performance. Conclusions; this study provides an overview of the prevalence of academic stress and sleep quality, and their relationship with academic performance.