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from the put-the-phone-down-and-snuggle dept.
As the numbers of smartphones and other personal electronic devices have risen, so has the prevalence of insomnia and sleep deprivation. And though these two things generally correlate, there hasn't been good data on how often these devices are being used, by whom, and the relationship between their use and the incidence of sleep disorders. A group of researchers from the University of California San Francisco set out to collect this data with the help of people enrolled in the Health eHeart Study. Their results are presented in a paper published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Total screen-time over 30 days was a median 38.4 hours (IQR 21.4 to 61.3) and average screen-time over 30 days was a median 3.7 minutes per hour (IQR 2.2 to 5.5). Younger age, self-reported race/ethnicity of Black and "Other" were associated with longer average screen-time after adjustment for potential confounders. Longer average screen-time was associated with shorter sleep duration and worse sleep-efficiency. Longer average screen-times during bedtime and the sleeping period were associated with poor sleep quality, decreased sleep efficiency, and longer sleep onset latency.
A total of 653 participants ran a smartphone app that monitored the number of minutes in each hour the screen was on. The total and average screentime were computed, as well as the average screen-time during self-reported bedtime hours and sleeping periods. Participant demographics, medical information, and sleep habits were obtained using a survey. What is notable about this work is that this is the first large study that directly measured screentime usage and compared it to demographics and medical information; however, sleep habits were measured only once using a survey.
Their conclusions, as summed up in the paper:
These findings on actual smartphone screen-time build upon prior work based on self-report and confirm that adults spend a substantial amount of time using their smartphones. Screen-time differs across age and race, but is similar across socio-economic strata suggesting that cultural factors may drive smartphone use. Screen-time is associated with poor sleep. These findings cannot support conclusions on causation. Effect-cause remains a possibility: poor sleep may lead to increased screen-time. However, exposure to smartphone screens, particularly around bedtime, may negatively impact sleep.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday November 15 2016, @09:49PM
While I absolutely agree with you that the difference in LEDs on a screen vs. in a light bulb or whatever is probably not that significant (and there is a factor having to do with engaging activities on a phone or tablet), there ARE plenty of reputable studies both showing the effect of sunlight on sleep cycles and specifically on certain spectral differences (some emphasized in standard LEDs) on sleep cycles.
First of all southerners freak out about lighting vs sleep but I've survived many dozens of summers in the North where its perfectly normal to go to sleep when the sun is up and wake up hours after sunrise. Its only really dark for a couple hours around midnight. Its simply not an issue in practice. If you believe gulf coast residents that is physically impossible, but they claim its impossible to drive in snow, so what do they know? I think we might be trying to run a scientific study on the equivalent of the legendary topic of "fan death" here.
I don't think anyone (at least no reasonable person) is claiming that it's impossible to sleep while the sun is up, particularly if you're indoors and have shades. And different people seem to have different sleep cycles -- some seem almost "programmed" to like to go bed very late and sleep until late morning, while others struggle to stay away after sunset and wake up before dawn. But for the vast majority of people, light levels (and particularly spectra that are somewhat like sunlight characteristics) DO seem to have significant effects on sleep. I don't think that's controversial at all among experts, and the effects are well-established not just for humans but for many animals. (More details here [wikipedia.org].)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday November 16 2016, @02:09PM
I don't think that's controversial at all among experts
Its not controversial among people trying to sell an app to "fix" the problem no one knows about without extensive PR. Thats my annoyance zone.