THE USE OF ZOLPIDEM, SIDE EFFECTS AND SLEEP QUALITY: AN ANALYSIS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT AN INSTITUTION IN WEST PARANÁ

Abstract

The use of medications to modulate sleep is extremely common among university students, although the appeal is to improve the condition, these drugs bring numerous unwanted effects. The objective was to evaluate the use of Zolpidem, adverse effects and sleep quality among medical students at a private institution in western Paraná. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory, descriptive study, with data collection through the application of a questionnaire using the Google Forms® platform for medical students from the 1st to 6th year, aged 18 or over. Data collection took place in the first half of 2023 after approval by the Ethics Committee under CAAE nº 65005722.1.0000.5219. 64 participants responded to the survey, 68.7% said they had a diagnosis of some psychiatric disorder (anxiety 47.7% and depression 22.7%). Most of the sample (67.2%) reported using or having already used some sleeping medication, of which (39%) said it was Zolpidem. The average time of use was 18 months. The prescription originating from a psychiatrist was present in 52% of cases. Regarding the use of Zolpidem, 60% responded to do so only under special conditions, 28% every day, 8% four times a week and 4% twice. Among Zolpidem users, 80% reported having at least one adverse effect, hallucination was the most frequent (28.5%), followed by delirium (22.8%), amnesia (20%), nightmares (20%) and sleepwalking (8.7%).