Effects of internet addiction and smartphone addiction on the sleep quality of students of the Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City in 2023

Internet addiction and smartphone addiction are global dilemmas. Excessive misuse of smartphones or the internet can adversely affect users’ health, psychological, spiritual, and quality of life. On the other hand, sleep has been considered one of the factors that make people’s lives and spirits the most comfortable. However, smartphone and internet addiction can adversely affect users’ sleep, especially in adolescents who are easily tempted and love to learn. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the influence of smartphone and internet addiction on students’ sleep quality. This was a cross-sectional study conducted on students in the field of public health. The data were collected through a set of self-filling questionnaires with three scales to assess: Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV), Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The results recorded 718 students participating in the study, with 67.1% female students. Students with smartphone addiction accounted for 47.4%, and internet addiction accounted for 54.9%, including 95.7% of students with mild to moderate addiction. Students with internet addiction had 1.72 times poorer sleep quality than students who were not addicted to the internet (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.36–2.17). There was no association between smartphone addiction and students’s sleep quality (p=0.391). Students need to be informed to better understand the harmful effects of internet addiction to improve sleep quality.