The Association of Smartphone Usage with Sleep Disturbances among Medical Students

Background  Smartphones have become an important and vital instrument that all medical students utilize, but the usage of such devices has been found to be connected to sleep disturbances. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and the relationship between smartphone addiction and poor sleep quality among medical students. Methods  A cross-sectional study was conducted among the fifth- and sixth-year medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to investigate the relation between smartphone usage and sleep disturbances. The questionnaires included demographic details, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and smartphone addiction scale short version (SAS-SV). Results  All 251 respondents had smartphones that were utilized for social media, communication, studying, etc. Most of the students were identified as smartphone addicts (65%), and 75% of the students had poor sleep quality. Sleep quality was found to be poor in 145 (85%) students with smartphone addiction. Smartphone addiction was significantly associated with poor sleep quality (odds ratio [OR]: 4.271; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.300-7.933; p  < 0.001). Gender and academic year were not significant predictors of poor sleep quality with p -values of 0.668 and 0.361, respectively. Smartphone addiction was significantly more prevalent among female students (80%) compared to male students (60%; p  = 0.004), with the mean addiction score of 43.5 ± 11.5 and 33.5 ± 9.1, respectively ( p  < 0.001). Conclusion  Our study shows a significant association between smartphone addiction and poor sleep quality. It is strongly recommended that counseling services be provided to medical students to assist those suffering from smartphone addiction and sleep difficulties.