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

Background: 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.

Methods: 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.

Discussion: 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.