Social Media Use and Relationship to Sleep Quality: A Study of Medical Students in A Private University in Nigeria

Abstract

Summary:

Social media use is on the rise among students, being influenced by globalization of communication. It has also created a lot of opportunities for information exchange and professional networking. However, uncontrolled use of social media platforms can also be associated with negative impact on sleep quality. The aim of this study was to assess potential association between social media use and poor sleep quality among medical students in a private university in Nigeria. A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate students of a private tertiary institution in Nigeria. Data on daily use and hours spent on different social media platforms were collected using a standardized questionnaire. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to measure sleep quality which was the main outcome measure. A P-value <0.05 was statistically significant. A total of 260 participants with mean age± SD (24.36. ±4.01 years), 126 (48.5%) males, 134(51.5%) females, completed the study. Of the participants surveyed, 99.6% were found to use various forms of social media. WhatsApp and Facebook platforms were the most widely used by the participants (95. 8%). Others such as Telegram, Badoo and Facetime were the least used social media platforms and accounted for about 5.2%. Poor sleep quality was observed in 56.9%of the students. However, the relationship between social media use and sleep quality was not statistically significant. (p-value<0.225) Almost all the study participants engaged in one form of social media or the other, but relationship to poor sleep quality was not statistically significant. However, due to the increasing trend and the potential detrimental impact on sleep quality, strategies to moderate the daily use of social media platforms and improve sleep quality in this population are needed.