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. 2024 Apr 15;16(4):e58323.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.58323. eCollection 2024 Apr.

Screen Time Among Medical and Nursing Students and Its Correlation With Sleep Quality and Attention Span: A Cross-Sectional Study

Dinesh P Sahu  1 , Manish Taywade  1 , Poojitha Sushma Malla  1 , Palak K Singh  1 , Pratima Jasti  1 , Pushpender Singh  1 , Preeyal Sharma  1 , Mukta Das  1 , Ravi Bharathi U M  1 , Krati Gupta  1
Affiliations

Screen Time Among Medical and Nursing Students and Its Correlation With Sleep Quality and Attention Span: A Cross-Sectional Study

Dinesh P Sahu et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: Screen time is increasing among students and is also known to affect their lifestyle and health. The study investigated the correlation of screen time with sleep quality and attention span.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical and nursing students in November 2021. A total of 192 students were selected randomly and investigated using a structured questionnaire. Sleep behavior was assessed using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. Screen time and attention span were measured for each participant. The screen time data was reported as the median with an IQR. Pearson's correlation was performed to assess the correlation between screen time and sleep behavior and screen time and attention span.

Results: The median screen time for 28 days was 260 (192.2-326.7) hours, and the median non-academic screen time was 250.0 (172.3-328.0) hours. Subjective sleep quality was good among 163 (84.9%) of the study participants. Global sleep quality was poor among 91 (42.2%) participants. The median score of the digit span forward was 6.00 (IQR: 5.00-7.00), and the median score of the digit span backward was 5.00 (IQR: 4.00-6.00). The global sleep score had a strong positive correlation with screen time, with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.86. Forward and backward attention spans were not correlated with sleep scores, with correlation coefficients of 0.037 and 0.071, respectively.

Conclusion: Screen time is increasing significantly among medical and nursing undergraduate students, and their sleep is also getting affected. Emphasis should be given to the balance between digitalization and health.

Keywords: attention span; digital health; medical; pittsburg; screen time; sleep; students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Correlation of screen time and sleep score (A: correlation between total screen time and global sleep score; B: correlation between academic screen time and global sleep score; C: correlation between non-academic screen time and global sleep score)
The scatter plot has been represented by the correlation coefficient (r)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Correlation between screen time and attention span
The scatter plot has been represented by the correlation coefficient (r). (D- Correlation between forward score and screen time, E- Correlation between backward score and screen time)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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