Purpose
With smartphone addiction’s (SA) increasing prevalence among young adults, there is a growing concern about its adverse effects on distorted dietary and lifestyle behaviors, including disturbed sleeping and eating patterns. We aim to study the prevalence of SA risk, poor sleeping quality, evening chronotype, and eating disorders (ED) risk among university students in the UAE. We also aim to assess the associations between them, emphasizing the one between ED and SA risks.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered online questionnaire was disseminated using the convenience sampling technique. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, Eating Attitude Test-26 items, and Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version were used to measure sleep quality, chronotype, ED risk, and SA risk, respectively. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied, and P< 0.05 was considered for statistical significance.
Results
Out of 552 students (mean age: 21.2±5.1 years), 71% had poor sleep quality, 33.9% reported evening chronotype, 37.9% had ED risk, and 56.2% had SA risk. The risk of SA was significantly associated with both poor sleep quality (OR=2.93; 95% CI: 2.01-4.29; p<0.001) and evening chronotype (p=0.005). ED risk was significantly associated with poor sleep quality (p<0.001), but not with chronotype or SA risk. Poor sleep quality predicted best ED risk.
Conclusion
High prevalence of SA, ED risk, and poor sleep quality was reported among university students in the UAE. Associations between poor sleep quality, evening chronotype, SA risk, and ED risk were further confirmed, along with sleep quality predicting risks of ED.
