Impact of Screen Time use on Sleep Hygiene and Academic Performance

Abstract

Modernization and mechanization have advanced notably within the last few years, and due to this, the capacity to utilize various gazettes and appliances for educational purposes has come. It can make accessing data much easier and permit for current organizational methods, but can also lead to further interruption in sleep quality, concentration, motivation and interest in studies and, finally, academic performance. The aim of the research was to assess the impact of screen-time use on sleep hygiene and academic performance among undergraduate nursing students. In this descriptive study, a total of 314 undergraduate nursing students of B.Sc. (Basic 4^th year) of National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER, Chandigarh, were selected using total enumeration sampling technique. Data were collected using self-structured questionnaire for academic performance and screen-time use and by using standardized tool, i.e. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for Sleep Hygiene. A self-constructed scoring key was used for categorizing academic performance. The results showed that B.Sc. Nursing 3^rd year class had the highest screen-time use (6.63±3.63), while B.Sc. Nursing 1^st year class had the lowest screen-time use (4.35±2.24). The PSQI (global score) was higher among the B.Sc. Nursing 4^th year students (5.81±2.69) with lowest academic performance (54.81±5.79). Students of B.Sc. Nursing 2^nd year had the lowest PSQI (global score), i.e. 4.50±2.28, while the highest academic performance (62±8.07) was of B.Sc. Nursing 1^st year class. Screen-time use was positively associated with sleep hygiene (PSQI global score), i.e. r = 0.166, p = 0.003, based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient; it means more the screen-time use, higher the PSQI global score (i.e. poor sleep hygiene). Screen-time use was negatively associated with academic performance (r = −0.143, p = 0.011), which means higher the screen-time use, lesser the academic performance. Sleep hygiene (PSQI global score) was negatively correlated with academic performance (r = −0.112, p = 0.047) indicated that higher the PSQI global score, lesser the academic performance. The findings of this study provide important information for nursing education at the institute and have implications for the future research works.