Smartphone Addiction and Sleep Disturbances Among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Smartphone use is widespread among young adults, impacting sleep and well-being.
• First-year MBBS students face unique academic and environmental stressors, increasing vulnerability to sleep disturbances.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of smartphone addiction and poor sleep quality among first-year MBBS students.
• To investigate the correlation between smartphone addiction and sleep quality in this demographic.
• To explore potential gender-based differences in smartphone addiction and sleep quality.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 89 first-year MBBS students from a private medical college in central India.
• Utilized the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for data collection.
• Statistical analyses included Chi-square tests, Pearson correlation, and reliability assessments (Cronbach's alpha).

Main Results:

• Over half of the participants exhibited smartphone addiction (55.1%) and poor sleep quality (53.9%).
• Significant associations were observed between specific PSQI components (subjective sleep quality, sleep efficiency) and the total SAS-SV score.
• No significant correlation was found between overall smartphone addiction scores and global sleep quality.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone addiction and poor sleep are common issues among first-year medical students.
• While global sleep quality did not correlate with mobile addiction, certain sleep parameters were significantly associated.
• There is a critical need for awareness programs promoting responsible smartphone use and healthy sleep habits, particularly for academically stressed medical students.