Comparison of Sleep Quality and Sleepiness in University Students with Different Levels of Nomophobia

Abstract

Sleep is an important need for the maintenance of activities of daily living. With the development of technology, different types of technology addiction have emerged and it has been seen that these addictions affect sleep negatively. Nomophobia, which can negatively affect sleep, is one of these types of technology addiction and is often observed in university students. The study was planned to compare sleepiness and sleep quality in university students with different types of nomophobia. A total of 215 participants aged 18-25 enrolled to the study. Participants divided into three-groups mild nomophobia (n=67), moderate nomophobia (n=105) and severe nomophobia (n=43) according to Nomophobia Questionnaire results. Nomophobia Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used the study. A significant difference was determined between the severe nomophobic participants and the moderate and mild nomophobic participants in terms of sleepiness level and sleep duration (p<0.05). While sleep quality scores indicate possible sleep problems for all university students, no statistically significant difference was found in terms of different level of nomophobia groups (p˃0.05). This study has shown nomophobia is quite common among university students, and sleepiness and sleep quality are negatively influenced by different levels of university students with nomophobia. Sleepiness is affected more negatively in university students with severely nomophobia compared to other groups. The health care providers should consider nomophobia level of university students as a confounding factor for sleepiness of university students.