Association between Self-Reported Bruxism and Sleeping Patterns among Dental Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

الملخص EN

Objectives.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify sleeping patterns among dental students and their association with self-reported bruxism in Riyadh Colleges of Dentistry and Pharmacy (RCsDP).

Methods.

A cross-sectional study was performed including 549 students (67 men and 482 women).

A structured questionnaire was adopted from The PSQI (The Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index) used for data collection.

It included questions which are categorized into sleeping habits, sleep-related symptoms, and additional questions concerning bruxism.

This questionnaire was randomly distributed among all college preclinical and postclinical students.

Sleep bruxism diagnosis was based on self-reported data.

The data were analyzed using Chi-square tests through SPSS software for Windows.

Results.

Statistical analyses revealed significant correlations between self-reported bruxism and sleeping habits including sleep initiation ( χ 2 = 22.6 , p = 0.000 ), continuous sleep until morning ( χ 2 = 19.2 , p = 0.001 ), nighttime sleep duration ( χ 2 = 20.2 , p = 0.000 ), and length of daytime naps ( χ 2 = 28.35 , p = 0.000 ).

There was an association between self-reported bruxism and sleeping-related symptoms including awakening early in the morning before the usual time without a cause ( χ 2 = 16.52 , p = 0.000 ) and increased nightmares ( χ 2 = 13.7 , p = 0.001 ).

Conclusions.

Poor sleeping pattern was an important factor among dental students, who reported sleep bruxism.