Beyond Poor Sleep: Behavioral Correlates of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness and Academic Performance in Undergraduate Medical Students from Southern India: A Cross-sectional Study

Aim and background: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is reported far less often than poor nocturnal sleep quality in Indian medical students.We aimed to estimate EDS prevalence and its independent correlates (primary), and to compare these with poor sleep quality correlates in the same cohort and relate both to examination performance (secondary).We hypothesized that sleep hygiene behavior, not global sleep quality category, would dominate.Materials and methods: Prospective cross-sectional study of 354 of 450 eligible MBBS students (78.7%) at a Southern Indian college, sampled by stratified proportional randomization.Under supervised standardized administration, they completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS; EDS >10), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI), with screen time, stress, mood, lifestyle, clinical covariates, and the latest university examination percentage.Excessive daytime sleepiness correlates were examined by logistic regression with a pre-specified confounder-adjusted sensitivity model.Results: Excessive daytime sleepiness affected 21.5% [95% confidence interval (CI) 17.5-26.0],more often among poor than good sleepers (27.7% vs 18.6%).Adjusted [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) 0.773, 0.714-0.832],only poorer sleep hygiene remained independent [odds ratio (OR) 1.12 per point, 1.07-1.18],unchanged after adjustment for all measured confounders (1.12, 1.06-1.17).Examination percentage did not differ by sleep status (67.33 ± 5.16 vs 68.07 ± 5.72; p = 0.229); academic stage and sex, not sleep, predicted marks (R² = 0.152).Conclusion: In this cross-sectional sample, EDS was associated more closely with sleep hygiene behavior than with global sleep quality category, and the two had distinct correlation profiles.Screening for sleepiness alongside sleep quality, and addressing bedtime device use, merit consideration in student health services.These are associations only; no direction of effect can be inferred.Clinical significance: Measuring EDS alongside global sleep quality identifies a partly distinct at-risk group, for whom brief counselling on bedtime device use may be more specific than generic sleep hygiene advice.