The Bedtime Trap: Smartphone Use Until Sleep Onset and Its Association With Sleep Quality and Academic Performance Among Medical Students in Punjab, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Survey
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Background
Smartphone use among medical students has become pervasive. While existing literature links excessive smartphone use to poor sleep quality, the specific behavioral pattern most strongly associated with sleep disruption remains insufficiently characterized. This study investigated whether the timing of smartphone cessation relative to sleep onset is more strongly associated with poor sleep quality than total daily screen time among medical students in Punjab, Pakistan, and examined the moderating role of exam period status.
Methods
A cross-sectional anonymous online survey was conducted among medical students across Punjab, Pakistan (May 2026). Sleep quality was assessed using items informed by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) response formats [1]. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression were applied to 369 eligible responses, reported in accordance with STROBE guidelines.
Results
Of 369 respondents (49.9% female, 48.2% male), 74.8% reported using smartphones 6 or more hours daily and 61.2% used their smartphone until falling asleep. Overall, 75.7% reported poor sleep quality. Students using smartphones until sleep onset had 95.1% poor sleep quality compared to 44.8% in those who ceased use before sleeping (p less than 0.001). In logistic regression with both variables entered simultaneously, bedtime use until sleep onset remained independently associated with poor sleep quality (OR 15.3, 95% CI 5.7-41.2, p less than 0.001), while total daily screen time lost significance (OR 1.8, 95% CI 0.7-4.7, p=0.228). Outside exam periods, 99.0% of students using smartphones until sleep onset reported poor sleep quality versus 24.2% of those who stopped before sleeping -- a difference of 74.8 percentage points (p less than 0.001). During exam periods, no significant association was observed (p=0.075), suggesting exam-related stress may attenuate the bedtime behavior effect. Hostel-dwelling students showed the highest prevalence of bedtime smartphone use, with 79.0% using smartphones until sleep onset compared to 23.2% of family-living students (p less than 0.001).
Conclusions
Bedtime smartphone use until sleep onset is more strongly associated with poor sleep quality than total daily screen time among Pakistani medical students. Medical institutions should consider integrating targeted digital wellness education -- specifically addressing bedtime cessation timing -- into student health programs, with particular attention to hostel-dwelling students.
