Sleep Hygiene Intervention and its Effectiveness in Reduction of Insomnia and Obesity among Undergraduate Medical Students

Introduction: Adequate amount and quality of sleep is the basic need for any human. Children and adolescents requires at least eight to nine hours of sleep per night. Insomnia results in both mental and physical health consequences, diminished productivity, accident proneness, increased medical utilisation and elevated risk of psychiatric disorders. Sleep hygiene intervention is a behavioral intervention to improve sleep quality. Aim: To determine the effectiveness of sleep hygiene intervention programme in reduction of insomnia and obesity among undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods: This interventional study was conducted at Tagore Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, India, January 2019 to May 2019, among 602 undergraduate medical students. Study was conducted in two phases, in phase 1, participants were surveyed for Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scoring and BMI. Those with ISI scores between 8-21 and BMI ≥30 kg/m2 were eligible for phase 2. In phase 2 using, stratified random sampling total 100 subjects, 50 each for control and intervention group were selected. Periodical sleep hygiene intervention was given for intervention group, insisting to follow 10 simple non pharmacological behavioral measures. Follow-up assessment of weight (kg) and ISI scoring was done. Paired t-test, repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferine Posthoc test was done to identify the statistical significance using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Among the 100 participants in phase II, 29 were female in both control and intervention group. The prevalence of Subthreshold insomnia 289 (48%) was higher. Over 4 month period comparison, intervention group had better reduction in weight {(62.48±10.62 kg to 51.48±6.88 kg) vs (61.58±10.35 kg to 62.48±10.66 kg)} and insomnia severity (13.70±3.62 to 10.34±2.43) vs (12.56±3.78 to 13.50±3.63) than control group. Conclusion: Simple non pharmacological intervention seems to have greater benefits in improving sleep hygiene and reducing obesity