Exposure to
smartphone screens is associated with lower sleep quality, according to a study
published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Matthew Christensen
from the University of California, San Francisco, USA, and colleagues.
Smartphones
are increasingly becoming part of everyday life, but questions remain about the
effects of frequent use on sleep. Poor sleep is associated with health
conditions such as obesity, diabetes and depression.
Sleep Disturbances In Women
The physical, emotional and hormonal changes that occur in women during puberty, menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause can cause Sleep Disturbances
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‘On an average, smartphones being activated for 3.7 minutes in each hour is associated with poor sleep quality and less sleep overall.’
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Christensen and colleagues sought to test the hypothesis that increased screen-time may be associated with poor sleep by analyzing data from 653 adult individuals across the United States participating in the Health eHeart Study.
Participants installed a smartphone application which recorded their
screen-time, defined as the number of minutes in each hour that the screen was
turned on, over a 30-day period. They also recorded their sleeping hours and
sleep quality.
![Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders]( "Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders")
Circadian rhythm (also known as sleep/wake cycle or the body clock) is a biological process that follows an internal cycle of roughly 24 hours.
The researchers found that each participant totaled an average of 38.4 hours over this period, with smartphones being activated on average for 3.7 minutes in each hour. Longer average screen-time was associated with poor sleep quality and less sleep overall, particularly when smartphones were used near participants' bedtime.
The authors state that their study is the first to measure smartphone exposure prospectively, but caution that the study also had some important limitations, including the self-selection of study participants and self-reporting of data.
While the authors' findings cannot show causation or exclude the "effect-cause" that poor sleep could lead to more screen time, the association they found could fit with the theory that bedtime smartphone use may negatively impact sleep.
Source: Eurekalert
Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders
Circadian rhythm (also known as sleep/wake cycle or the body clock) is a biological process that follows an internal cycle of roughly 24 hours.
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The researchers found that each participant totaled an average of 38.4 hours over this period, with smartphones being activated on average for 3.7 minutes in each hour. Longer average screen-time was associated with poor sleep quality and less sleep overall, particularly when smartphones were used near participants' bedtime.
The authors state that their study is the first to measure smartphone exposure prospectively, but caution that the study also had some important limitations, including the self-selection of study participants and self-reporting of data.
While the authors' findings cannot show causation or exclude the "effect-cause" that poor sleep could lead to more screen time, the association they found could fit with the theory that bedtime smartphone use may negatively impact sleep.
Source: Eurekalert
Ageing and Sleep
Sleep is a barometer of good health in the elderly. Sleep problems in the elderly are controlled by various external and internal factors.
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