Sleep Quality and Chronotype of Young Athletes Addicted to Smartphones During Ramadan Observance

Abstract

Objective: Problematic smartphone use is associated with social, physical, and mental health issues, including chronotype and sleep patterns. During Ramadan intermittent fasting, these factors were more affected. However, no study explored problematic smartphone use and sleep patterns during Ramadan. Thus, the present study explored problematic smartphone use, sleep patterns, and chronotypes among athletic sample during Ramadan and assessed their relationship.Methods: Fifty athlete students (18.44±0.79 years) were voluntarily involved in this prospective cohort study. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) were used to collect information on sleep quality and circadian preferences, respectively, before one week of Ramadan (baseline). Then, the participants repeated the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and completed the Arabic version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale short version (SAS-sv) at the end of Ramadan.Results: Of the 50 patients, 38% of the participants demonstrated problematic smartphone use. Ramadan showed no significant impact on sleep quality. Problematic smartphone use was not associated with sleep quality or chronotype. Nevertheless, it was negatively correlated with chronotype.Conclusion: High prevalence of smartphones and sleep quality was reported during Ramadan. The associations between sleep quality and problematic smartphone use were not confirmed. However, there is a negative relationship between chronotype and problematic smartphone use. The study suggests more focus on how athlete students can exploit physical exercise as a healthy alternative to keep control of excessive use of smartphones.