The Associated Factors of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in the Workplace: Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

Abstract

Background and Objective: The excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) led to decrease work productivity, increase accident in workplace, increase inter-personal problem, and may reduce the quality of work life. EDS associated with gender, age group, marital status, underlying disease, BMI, work duration, sleep duration, depression, job pattern, and stress. The objective was to determine the association of these risk factors with personnel’s EDS in the workplace, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University.

Methods: The personnel from faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University were sampled. The sample size was 740 from a total of 1,133. The design was cross-sectional study. The questionnaires composed of general demographic data, the Thai diagnostic screening test of Ministry of Public Health for depression, Suanprung Hospital stress test, and Epworth sleepiness scale. The time duration of study was May – July 2009. The author identified significant explanatory variables through bivariate analysis and then logistic regressions. A two-tailed p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The prevalence of EDS was 36.7%. Single personnel had EDS 2.56 times more than married personnel, overweight personnel had EDS 1.96 times more than underweight to normal weight, and personnel with high to severe stress had EDS 6.45 times more than personnel with mild to moderate stress.

Conclusion: The prevalence of EDS in Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University was high and associated with overweight, high to severe stress, and single status. The administrators should focus on these high risk groups.

Keywords: excessive daytime sleepiness, workplace