Electronic gadgets use and sleep quality among medical students during COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Nepal Government imposed two national-level lockdowns to curtail the spread of coronavirus. Schools, colleges, and universities were briefly shut leading students to stay indoors. Change in daily routine, online education and plenty of free time has ultimately led to an increase in use of electronic gadgets like smartphones, laptops, etc. There have not been enough studies to evaluate the usage pattern of electronic gadgets and sleep quality among undergraduate medical students of Nepal before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our study aims to evaluate the usage pattern of electronic gadgets and sleep quality among undergraduate medical students before and during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nepal.METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 208 undergraduate medical students of Lumbini Medical College, Tansen, Palpa. Participants were requested to fill up an online questionnaire circulated via Viber and Facebook messenger. Gadget usage pattern and sleep quality before and during COVID-19 lockdown were evaluated using Smartphone addiction score-short version (SAS-SV) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) respectively.RESULTS: Of 208 responses which met the inclusion criteria, smartphone addiction was seen 94 (46.30%) respondents with higher number of male addicts (27.59%). Mean time spent in electronic gadgets raised significantly during lockdown compared to pre-COVID phase. 99 (48.77%) respondents had impaired sleep according to PSQI global sleep score. Significant relation was present between most of the components of PSQI with addicts and non-addicts.CONCLUSION: This study is merely a partial snapshot of the present scenario and provides preliminary understanding on smartphone use pattern and sleep quality among medical students from Nepal. It is critical to decrease total screen time and promote sleep quality for the betterment of physical and mental health of the future health care professionals.