ArticleCureus2025
Exploring the Link Between Caffeine Intake, Sleep Quality, and Restless Legs Syndrome Among Medical Students.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence of restless legs syndrome in Pakistan: a systematic review and meta-analysis across diverse study populations.BMC neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Body and Mind Intertwined: Physical Activity Intensity, Sleep Quality, and Depressive Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Associations and Exploratory Path Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Relationships Between Sleep Quality, Perceived Stress, and Premenstrual Syndrome Among Medical and Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Palestine.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Are future physicians practicing safe caffeine consumption? A structured narrative review of caffeine and energy drink use among medical students.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Medical students face increased threats to their sleep quality and lifestyle health because academic stress and unpredictable class hours create these challenges. Medical students commonly use too much caffeine as a stress management tool, but research lacks data about how caffeine affects both sleep quality and restless legs syndrome (RLS) symptoms. Methods The study utilized a research design combining cross-sectional analysis and correlation assessment with a participant group of 300 medical students ranging from 18 to 30 years old. Data was collected from January to March 2025. The Caffeine Consumption Questionnaire, combined with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Restless Legs Syndrome Symptom Severity Scale, enabled researchers to collect necessary data. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY) served as the platform to perform all statistical assessments through descriptive statistics, ANOVA tests, chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression procedures. Results The medical students among the surveyed sample of 300 showed 237 participants (79%) caffeine consumption, while 78 participants (26%) consumed it nightly. Studies revealed that RLS symptoms affected 34 participants (11.2%) of participants as increased caffeine consumption resulted in milder RLS (r = -0.383, p < 0.01) yet negatively impacted sleep quality (r = 0.197, p < 0.01). The students who consumed caffeine in the morning experienced the highest sleep quality and the lowest severity of RLS symptoms (r = -0.266, p < 0.01). Additionally, poor sleep deteriorated RLS symptoms. Conclusion Higher caffeine use minimizes the reported intensity of RLS symptoms but leads to diminished sleep quality, particularly when coffee is taken late in the day. The combination of poor sleep and RLS symptoms creates a continuous worsening effect that persists across the cycle. Medical students' overall health and academic performance depend on specific intervention methods that teach proper sleep habits and caffeine consumption.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.