DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/dmj.v15i3.54877

THE PREVALENCE OF SLEEP DISORDERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC AND MENTAL VALUES IN MEDICAL STUDENTS: A QUALITATIVE META-SYNTHESIS

*Mawar Labbaika Puteri Derajat  -  Universitas Muhammadiyah Purwokerto, Indonesia
Open Access Copyright 2026 Mawar Labbaika Puteri Derajat
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

Background: Recent studies indicate that sleep disturbances are highly prevalent among medical students worldwide, and although clinical and educational research has established that inadequate sleep negatively affects cognitive and psychological functioning, the integrated role of sleep disturbances in shaping both academic performance and mental health outcomes is not yet fully understood. Objective: This study examines the prevalence of sleep disturbances among medical students and seeks to identify and understand their associations with academic achievement and mental health conditions. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted using peer-reviewed journals published between 2020 and 2025, synthesizing qualitative and quantitative findings through narrative and thematic analysis to evaluate patterns across studies. Results: The findings demonstrate that poor sleep quality and insufficient sleep duration were consistently observed to be associated with lower academic performance, increased stress levels, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and burnout, with stronger negative outcomes reported among students in clinical years; sleep quality showed a statistically significant negative correlation with psychological distress and academic decline. Conclusion: The results confirm that sleep disturbances play a significant role in both academic and mental development among medical students, indicating that the study successfully identified the expected relationships; future research should focus on longitudinal designs and intervention-based studies to evaluate causal mechanisms and effective sleep improvement strategies within medical education systems.

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Keywords: Academic performance, Medical students, Mental health, Sleep disturbance, Sleep quality

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Section: Original Articles
Language : EN
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