Aim Smartphone use has become prevalent and rapidly expanding. Therefore, it is essential to determine the potential adverse effects. This study aims to assess the prevalence of smartphone use at bedtime and its association with sleep quality and educational-related activities among medical students. Subject and methods The current cross-sectional study included 1184 male and female undergraduate medical students at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data on personal characteristics, smartphone use, and academic activities. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index ((PSQI) was used for the assessment of sleep quality. Results The result revealed that bedtime smartphone use was highly prevalent (96.5 %), with nearly half (46.9%) of studied medical students using them for more than 2 hours. Social media was at the top of the usage list (74.2%), followed by communication (48.8%). Smartphone users at bedtime had a significantly higher prevalence of poor sleep quality, increased sleep latency, difficulty in maintaining sleep, and shorter sleep duration compared to non-user (p-value<0.05). The probability of poor sleep quality is significantly increased by bedtime smartphone use, regular coffee drinking, hostel residence, and proximity of the phone during sleep, whereas the likelihood of poor sleep quality is significantly decreased by physical activity. A significant association between poor sleep quality and academic performance was also reported. Conclusion This study emphasizes the negative impact of smartphone use at bedtime on sleep quality and quantity, which in turn has a negative effect on academic performance. Therefore, medical students are strongly encouraged to limit their smartphone use before bedtime for better sleep and academic performance.

Background There are still many concerns related to various types of COVID-19 vaccines, which may result in individuals’ hesitancy presenting a problem for public health authorities to achieve coverage for population immunity. As trustworthy health-care workers, medical and nursing students’ perception towards COVID-19 vaccines may greatly influence the future population’s uptake of vaccines; however, studies related to the vaccine acceptance rates among them are limited. Objective To identify the perception of medical and nursing students toward COVID-19 vaccines and the factors acting either as motivators or barriers to be vaccinated. Methods A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted on 500 undergraduate students aged ≥18 years from medical and nursing faculties. Data were collected via a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire that consisted of questions on general characteristics of the participants and source of information about the vaccine. Also, it includes items assessing the perception and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared, t -test and multiple logistic regressions were performed using SPSS version 22. Results Positive perception was detected among more than half of overall students. Although medical students had significant higher positive perception toward COVID-19 vaccines than nursing students (54.9% vs. 41.1%, p <0.05), they were more hesitant to get vaccinated than nursing students (25.7% vs. 19.6%, p >0.05). While, medical students had a higher intention to encourage family members or friends to get vaccinated than did nursing students (47.7% vs .43.8%, respectively) ( p >0:05). Furthermore, participants were more likely to accept vaccination if they reported higher levels of positive perception especially for vaccine safety and increasing recovery rate. Conclusion Academic medical and nursing leaders should consider female students’ vaccine concerns, and future efforts are needed to reduce their hesitancy and raise awareness about vaccinations that may eventually improve perception and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines.