Influence Smartphones addiction on mental health and sleep quality among medical students in Sudan amids armed conflict :A cross sectional study.

Background: Smartphone use has rapidly increased worldwide. It was estimated that worldwide use of smartphones surpassed 1 billion in 2012, which means that 1 out of 7 people use smartphones. Mobile phones have become an unavoidable part of the youth's lives and are attractive and very handy technological appliances, competent to disseminate a lot of information at their fingertips. They also include features like internet access, multimedia, and GPS navigation, in addition to their use for communication. We aimed to assess the influence of smartphone addiction on mental health and sleep quality among medical students in Sudan. Methods: This cross-sectional survey focused on Sudanese medical students, living inside or outside the country, who tend to be addicted to smartphones during the conflict period. The questionnaire covered various domains, including sociodemographic data, the Suboptimal Health Status questionnaire, the sleep condition indicator, the smartphone addiction scale, and depression, anxiety, and stress scales during the conflict. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software version 26. Results: A total of 1704 questionnaires were collected. Of all participants, 1176 (69.0%) were female and 528 (31.0%) were male. The mean age of the participants was 491. Age was classified: as less than 18 (40, 2.3%), 19–21 years (368, 21.6%), and more than 21 years (1296, 76.1%). More than half of the respondents (1048, 61.5%) had a low suboptimal health status questionnaire prevalence, while 656 (38.5%) had a high prevalence. 336 (31.5%) of the participants had a low rate of sleep condition indicator prevalence, while 1168 (68.5%) had a high rate according to the prevalence rate. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study sheds light on the significant prevalence of smartphone addiction among medical students in Sudan, with 67.6% of participants exhibiting high levels of addiction. This addiction has profound health implications, particularly in terms of negatively impacting sleep patterns. The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions and awareness programs targeting smartphone addiction, considering demographic factors such as age, gender, and marital status. Additionally, our study emphasizes the importance of further research to explore contextual factors contributing to smartphone addiction among medical students and to develop effective strategies for intervention and prevention.