Study objective: The objective of this study was to examine the association between the use of mobile phones after lights out and sleep disturbances among Japanese adolescents.
Design and setting: This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. The targets were students attending junior and senior high schools throughout Japan. Sample schools were selected by cluster sampling. Self-reported anonymous questionnaires were sent to schools for all students to fill out.
Participants: A total of 95,680 adolescents responded. The overall response rate was 62.9%, and 94,777 questionnaires were subjected to analysis.
Intervention: N/A.
Measurements and results: Daily mobile phone use, even if only for a brief moment every day, was reported by 84.4%. Moreover, as for use of mobile phones after lights out, 8.3% reported using their mobile phone for calling every day and 17.6% reported using it for sending text messages every day. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that mobile phone use for calling and for sending text messages after lights out was associated with sleep disturbances (short sleep duration, subjective poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, and insomnia symptoms) independent of covariates and independent of each other.
Conclusion: This study showed that the use of mobile phones for calling and for sending text messages after lights out is associated with sleep disturbances among Japanese adolescents. However, there were some limitations, such as small effect sizes, in this study. More studies that examine the details of this association are necessary to establish strategies for sleep hygiene in the future.
Keywords: Japan; Sleep disturbance; adolescent; epidemiology; mobile phone.