Dados do Trabalho

Título

Effects of meditation on sleep quality of medical students

Introdução

Sleep plays a fundamental biological role in memory consolidation, normalization of endocrine functions, thermoregulation, conservation and restoration of energy, and restoration of brain energy metabolism. Medical students are a group susceptible to sleep disorders, due to their full-time curricular load, extracurricular activities and the high pressure and stress, with high performance requirements and time spent studying. Meditation has an impact on the mental health of university students, being related to the reduction of symptoms of depression and anxiety, prevention and reduction of stress and fatigue, good cognitive performance, improvement in sleep, attention, state of consciousness, mood and empathy.

Objetivo

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an online mindfulness-based meditation program on sleep quality in medical students from the cities of Passo Fundo/RS and Chapecó/SC.

Métodos

An interventional study was developed, involving 22 participants who underwent an 8-week online mindfulness-based meditation program (1 weekly online meeting of approximately 1 hour in duration). The effects of the intervention were evaluated at the beginning, during (week 5), and after the program (weeks 9 and 17), through the online application of the PSQI (Pittsburgh Quality Sleep Index)

Resultados

Of the students who underwent the mindfulness-based meditation program, the median of age was 22 years and most were female (51,5%) and attending the basic cycle. The PSQI score was high at the beggining of the study (8,14), indicating a poor quality of sleep, but showed a reduction in values during and after the intervention, with final indices indicating good sleep quality (week 9), represented by a score <5 points (4.76, p=0.03), with a slight worsening of the scores at the 2-month follow-up (week 17), but maintaining statistical significance (5.06, p=0.03) compared to baseline.

Conclusões

An online mindfulness-based meditation program in medical students improved sleep quality in this population, with maintenance of the results 2 months later compared to the beginning of the study. Meditation can improve the sleep quality of future doctors, becoming a device for the insertion of new forms of self-care for medical students and perhaps in the health area in general.

Palavras -chave

Meditation. Mindfulness. Sleep. Medical students.