Impact of screen time on sleep quality

Abstract

Background: Technology that years ago we could only dream of or read in science fiction novels, which we then actually created with much hope in their power of connecting people, has become a tool of gratification. To many, smart phone is an eye opener, their first alarm clock, newspaper, and stress buster. The scariest part about smart phone addiction is that it can affect our physical and mental health, our relationships, and productivity. Considering the growing use of smart phone by the youth and its impact on sleep, this study was undertaken to assess the relationship between Smart phone screen time and sleep quality. Materials and Methods: A quantitative approach with cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. An application named “Quality time” was used to assess the screen time among samples. Pittsburgh sleep quality index was used to appraise the duration of sleep. Results: The study establishes that there was a significant negative correlation between smart phone screen time and sleep duration (ρ = −0.61 P < 0.001) Conclusion: Availability of diverse sort of electronic media engages the students more on screen, which adversely affects their sleeping quality and pattern. Although the development of technology is a boon, findings of the study depict that greater the screen time, poorer the quality of the sleep.