Quantifying Screen Time and Its Association with Sleep Quality among Medical Students in India: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction:Sleep is essential for cognitive, emotional, and physical health.However, medical students often face significant sleep challenges due to high academic demands and irregular schedules.Excessive screen time, which is prevalent among medical students, further disrupts sleep by delaying sleep onset, reducing efficiency, and altering circadian rhythms, thereby compounding the already existing pressures of their academic environment.Objective: To assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality among medical students and evaluate the association between screen time and sleep quality.Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted over a month at a medical college in New Delhi, involving 392 undergraduate MBBS students.Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality assessment and the Screens-Q tool for screen time evaluation.Statistical analyses, including Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression, were performed to identify predictors of poor sleep quality, with adjusted odds ratios calculated.Results: The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 40.6% (95% CI: 35.6-45.6%).Total weekly screen time averaged 1758.9 715.5 minutes (29.3 11.9 hours), with mobile phones accounting for the highest usage (20.3 7.8 hours).Heavy screen users had nearly a fourfold increase in the odds of poor sleep quality (adjusted OR: 3.69, 95% CI: 1.16-11.65)compared to light users.Smoking and alcohol use were associated with poorer sleep quality in unadjusted analyses but were not significant after adjustment.Conclusion: Poor sleep quality is prevalent among medical students, with heavy screen time as the strongest predictor.Interventions targeting screen time reduction and promoting sleep hygiene are critical.Future research should incorporate objective measures and longitudinal designs to establish causality and improve sleep health strategies.