ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Chronotypes effect on academic achievement, and absence from classroom and clinical session among clinical phase medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
- 2Other
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Objectives: Chronotype is a unique personal biological clock determined by bedtime preference and daytime activities. The contradiction between sleep preference and the daily routine (circadian misalignment) could affect academic performance among students. This important issue was discussed controversially. We aimed to assess the chronotype's effect on academic achievement, absence from the classroom, and clinical sessions among medical students at the University of Tabuk. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 224 medical students in the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia from March 2024 to August 2024. A structured Web-based questionnaire based on the morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ), age, absence from classrooms and clinical sessions, and the cumulative grade average (GPA) was used. The Statistical Package of the Social Science Software (SPSS), version 20, New York was used for data analysis. Results: Out of the 224 medical students (age 23.29±1.87 years), 61.2% were intermediate chronotype, and 23.2% were moderate evening. Moderate morning, and definite evening were reported in 11.2%, and 4.5% respectively. A negative correlation was found between absence from classrooms and GPA, 95% CI, 0.053-0.749, P-value, 0.017, a positive correlation was found between student, 's age and GPA, 95% CI, 1.308-1.971, P-value, 0.000. No association was evident between GPA, the time of the study, 95% CI, 0.648-3.660, P-value, 0.0329), and chronotype, 95% CI, 0.931-1.004, P-value, 0.079). 2 Conclusion: Medical students at the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia were mostly intermediate and evening chronotype. Chronotype was associated with absence from classrooms and GPA. Further multicenter studies investigating determinants of chronotype are recommended.
Keywords: Chronotype, Medical students, Absence, Academic achievements, Saudi Arabia
Received: 12 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Alblewi and Mirghani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hyder Mirghani, h.mirghani@ut.edu.sa
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