Release date: 2016-11-14
(CNN) - You like a smartphone, but it hurts you. A new study shows that using these devices, especially when used near sleep, can degrade your sleep quality.
“For our subjects, the more smartphones you use when you should fall asleep, the longer it takes to fall asleep, and the worse the quality of sleep at night.†The study's author, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco Dr. Gregory Marcus said. His research was published in the journal PLOS One on Wednesday.
Technical addiction
The term "Blackberry" became popular about 10 years ago. It is used to describe those who are addicted to BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry is the first truly successful smartphone. Today, most people are “addicts†of smartphones, waiting for trains or post offices to become “low-headedâ€.
To know that the use of smartphones means a reduction in sleep, Marcus and his colleagues decided to investigate whether the two were relevant. To answer this question, he began collecting information from an Internet-based study in March 2013.
"Healthy eHeart," an organization funded by the National Institutes of Health, is recognized by the American Heart Association to study cardiovascular health. Anyone 18 years of age or older can sign up for Healthy eHeart, co-founded by Dr. Mark Pletcher and UCSF professor Jeffrey Olgin.
After signing the consent form, the registered participants actively report their health data through a series of online questionnaires. After the information is collected, it is analyzed and researched, and then methods for preventing and treating various heart diseases are developed. Marcus said that about 80,000 participants have joined the healthy eHeart. "We have people from all states in the United States, and many people come from different states. We actually have people from 50 countries.
Marcus and his co-founders also provide data to other scientists conducting research. For this new study, Marcus delved into this wealth of information to conduct his own "sub-study."
Mining data
Of all healthy eHeart participants, 653 chose to participate in and complete a new smartphone sleep study. Participants installed an app on their phone that automatically recorded the hourly opening of the phone screen during 30 days (total screen open time).
These participants have reported their sleep time and sleep quality and used valid questionnaires as part of a broader health eHeart experience, Marcus explained. Therefore, when answering the sleep assessment question, participants also added demographic data as well as information on their alcohol use, exercise activities, smoking habits and other health issues. By answering these questions, participants did not know what the researchers were studying, and Marcus explained: "We don't want any bias."
By analyzing the data, the researchers found that participants used smartphones for an average of 38.4 hours in 30 days. Those with longer average screen times are more likely to have poor sleep quality and less sleep: about 35% of smartphone users with less average time of use have difficulty sleeping, compared to the average time spent. People who have difficulty sleeping have 42%. For participants who use a smartphone before going to bed, the possibility of poor sleep quality is greater.
Researchers have found that mobile phone usage varies over the entire 24-hour period, but most occur during the day. For some participants, however, the use of smartphones peaked at night. "We can't rule out the possibility that some people can't sleep because of something completely unrelated, and they use their smartphones because they can't sleep, and that's just to pass the time," Marcus said.
Despite potential pitfalls, Marcus's findings are consistent with other findings, suggesting that the use of technology products at bedtime is associated with sleep difficulties, such as the 2011 National Sleep Foundation survey. Other studies have shown that blue light from smartphones (and other digital devices) may inhibit the melatonin produced by our body, which causes fatigue and regulates the sleep-wake cycle. "So, there are some biological reasons to support the idea that there is a causal relationship between them, but we are still not sure," Marcus said.
Sleep: our basic needs
Dr. Neil Kline, a sleep physician and physician at the American Sleep Association, said, "Sleep is considered a recovery process and a basic biological need. "When animals, including humans, are deprived of sleep, there are many body systems. Disorders can cause our performance to worsen, memory and attention to diminish, and our immune system and endocrine system can be damaged.
According to another scholar who did not participate in the study, Kline said that lack of sleep was associated with an increase in metabolic disease and appetite. More in-depth studies have shown that poor sleep, including low-quality or insufficient sleep, is a predisposing factor for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
Although most of these negative effects have been well studied in adults, according to another study, children's sleep is also affected by technology products. Its first author, Ben Carter, senior lecturer in biostatistics at King's College London and his colleagues found that for teenagers and children, the use of cell phones, tablets and computers is associated with lost sleep time and quality of sleep.
Carter believes Marcus's findings are "reasonable," but he believes the research is flawed in some respects. He said that participants in the healthy eHeart study may be more likely to have poor heart function or "typical mobile device users."
“The average age of more extreme users and less extreme users is 44 and 52 years old, and both groups are female-dominated,†Carter wrote in an email. The data from a small, specific population sample means that the results may not be applicable to the general population.
Marcus suspects that some people may be more affected than others, and excessive use of smartphones may affect sleep more. He hopes to continue to investigate this issue in the future. According to his conclusion, he suggested that people with insomnia and other sleep problems should avoid watching the screen for more than half an hour before going to bed, so as to see if they can improve their sleep quality. He added, "This is a good attempt. There is almost no harm. Why not?"
Source: Bio Valley
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