Experts discovered that smartphone use before bed affects sleep quality.
Based on recent findings, smartphone use is not the best go-to-bed activity because you won’t sleep too well. In other words, people who spend a lot of time on their smartphones before bedtime have a higher risk of experiencing problems sleeping.
Researchers noted that ‘exposure to smartphone screens, particularly around bedtime, may negatively impact sleep.’ It means that those who put away their smartphones before going to bed will most likely sleep better.
During the study, the team monitored 653 adults, who installed an app on their smartphones, which recorded how much time the participants used their devices, excepting the time when they used the airplane mode.
Also, 136 participants were asked to fill in some questionnaires regarding their sleep habits. After 30 days, the team established that the median smartphone use among participants was one hour and a half every day.
It is worth mentioning that the scientists didn’t account for the adults’ BMI, mood, and physical activity. The researchers analyzed the data collected from the 136 participants and concluded that the more time they spent on their devices before bedtime, the worse they slept afterward.
Furthermore, prolonged smartphone use was the reason why it took more time for all of them to fall asleep. This type of measurement is called ‘sleep efficiency,’ and it compares the time frame the participants spent in bed with the one during which they actually slept.
According to researcher Matthew Christensen from the University of California, the connection between sleep and average smartphone use originates from the exposure near bedtime. He further added that this exposure usually occurs not before bedtime but after or during the first hour when you are supposed to sleep.
Other studies have shown that smartphone use before time is related to lower sleep quality and fewer hours of sleep. Experts believe that this negative impact is caused by the screens’ blue light.
Therefore, the brain produces a lower amount of melatonin, the hormone associated with sleep timing and quality. However, the team underlines that this study is just the first part of a comprehensive investigation.
In other words, they will try to monitor more participants in the future to establish a cause-and-effect link between smartphone use and sleep efficiency.
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