A protocol of the study “Effectiveness of psychobehavioural interventions for sleep disturbances in undergraduate medical students”

Medical students carry a huge academic load which can be a contributing factor in sleep disturbances. Studies have shown that the prevalence of sleep disturbance is comparatively higher in medical students than in non-medical students or the general population. Despite various psychological and behavioral interventions for sleep improvement, not much is known about their effectiveness in real-world scenarios. Our study aims to compare the effectiveness of psychobehavioural interventions on sleep disturbances compared to sleep hygiene for undergraduate medical students.

A randomized trial will be used to assess the effectiveness of psychobehavioural interventions in improving sleep quality using the following tools: Semi-structured sociodemographic proforma, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Glasgow Sleep Effort (GSE) scale, Pre-sleep Arousal Scale (PAAS), and Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS). Inclusion criteria: participants scoring 5 or higher on the PSQI will be recruited for psychobehavioural interventions after obtaining informed consent. The participants will be randomly assigned to intervention and control groups.

SPSS will be used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics will be used to describe the sample. An intention-to-treat analysis will be performed to assess the effectiveness of the interventions. This study will provide valuable insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of non-pharmacological sleep interventions to address sleep difficulties among undergraduate medical students.