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                     American International Journal of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research; Vol. 5, No. 4; 2019 
                                       ISSN 2638-1249   E-ISSN 2638-1273 

Published by Centre for Research on Islamic Banking & Finance and Business, USA 
 

     10 
 

 

Association between Excessive Use of Mobile Phone and Insomnia among 
Pakistani Teenagers Cross Sectional Study 

 
Lubna Farooq 

MPhil, Assistant Professor 
Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan 

Email: jlubna85@gmail.com 
 

 Akhtar Ali     
      MPhil, Lecturer 

 Ziauudin Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan  
 Email: drakhtarali45@gmail.com 

 
 Sehrish Mahmood 

MBBS, Lecturer 
Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan 
Email: dr.sehrishmahmood88@gmail.com 

  
 Mahnoor Farzand 

BDS, Lecturer 
Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan 

Email: mahnoorfarzand01@gmail.com 
  

Hina Masood 
MBBS, Lecturer 

Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan 
  

Sumreen Mujahid  
 MPhil, Lecturer               

Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan              
Email: drsumreenfawaz@gmail.com 

Abstract 
Introduction: In the era of modern technology mobile phones have becoming popular, especially in teenagers. Besides of its uses 
there are various undesirable psychological and physical impact on heath. Aims and objectives: The purpose of this study was to 
access the link among Excessive Use of Smart Phone and there sleep pattern among Pakistani Adolescents. 
Materials and Methods: A detailed cross sectional study was performed on a total of 500 medical graduates range between 18 
and 24 years who were using mobile phone atleast a year. Self-designed Questionnaire is given to them having details of their 
frequency and pattern of using smart phone. Sleep quality was analyzed by using Pittsburg Sleep Quality index .Chi square test 
was also perform to check the link between frequency of mobile phone and quality of sleep.P value < 0.005 were considered as 
significant. 
Result: Out of 500 participants, the frequency of mobile phone usage was more in males 70% as compare to females30%. Their 
age varied from 21to 24 with mean age of 20 ± 1.9 years.  Most of students use mobile phone in night 188 (38%)and 202 
(40%) participants using mobile phone unlimited. 366 (73%) students mentioned that they start using mobile phone at 
intermediate level and claimed that no surveillance of the mobile phone being done by the parents . Students who were using 
unlimited mobile phone reported that they take more than 1 hour to sleep that showed a significant (p-value <0.001) 
correlation between more mobile phone use and time taken to sleep.  
Conclusion: The results of our study conclude that excessive mobile phone usage leads to sleep disturbances and poor quality of 
sleep. That may implement negative effects on student’s mental and physical health along with this it can also affect the students’ 
educational performance and daily life activities.  
 

Keywords: Mobile Phone; Psychological Health; Sleep Quality, Nomophobia, Blue Light  

mailto:drakhtarali45@gmail.com
mailto:dr.sehrishmahmood88@gmail.com
mailto:mahnoorfarzand01@gmail.com
mailto:drsumreenfawaz@gmail.com


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1. Introduction  
Sleep is altered state of consciousness that constitutes almost one-third of the hours in a human’s lifetime. During sleep, 
connection between brain and body practically motor activities are suspended. Sleep is a keystone of adolescent normal 
development and growth therefore it is thought that ideally students should aim for at least nine hours of sleep in night in order 
to perform actively, both physically and mentally. Sleep deficiency may lead to various psychological and physical disorders such 
as deprive energy, mood swings, inability to concentrate and learn. It has been also associated with increase in obesity (Gupta et 
al.,2016) (Munezawa, T et al.,2011) (Varshney, A. M. et al.,2017) (Van den Bulck, J.2007) 

In this Era of advanced technologies mobile phones are became an essential tool for human beings especially in younger 
population. Previously these were used only for communication but now advancement in technology has lead mobile phones to 
be used as mini computers. People generally young population feels that life without cellphone is incomplete, dull and drab. 
Although significance and benefits of mobile phone cannot be dined but at the same time, their excessive use may implement 
undesirable effects on health and education. According to a survey, the frequency of mobile phone users has increased from 12.4 
million to 7 billion from year 1990 to 2014 globally (Saeb, S. et al.,2015) (Asselbergs, J. et al.,2016) 

From year 2000 – 2015 frequency of internet usage is also increased globally 7-fold from 6.5% to 43 % (Parasuraman, S. et al., 
2017).  According to GLOBAL MOBILE MARKET data, Mobile phone subscribers has been increased to 3 million in 2018. 
India is ranked on second number after US for the usuage of mobile phone  (. Majumder, S.et al.,2019) .In today’s life that is 
surrounded by modern technologies, anxiety and stress are has affliction with daily activities. “After constant mobile phone use 
the fear, anxiety and nervousness of mobile loss or getting mobile less is termed as nomophobia,” Number of studies conducted 
in parts of the world have reported that teenagers are concerned with the idea of losing their mobile phones (Ali, S. et al.,2014) 
(Prasad, M. et al.,2017) (Dongre, A. S. et al.,2017).Continuous usuage of mobile phone affects people life both physically and 
mentally. Excessive use of mobile phones is associated with impaired concentration, headache, dizziness, fatigue, dry eyes, 
computer vision syndrome, stress, sleep disturbances, weakness of thumb and wrist, neck pain and rigidity, increased frequency 
of tactile hallucinations and nomophobia etc (González-Cabrera, J. et al.,2017).Using the social media can change the sleep 
duration.  The aim of this study is to evaluate the pattern of mobile phone usage among students of a medical university of 
Pakistan and to assess effects of mobile phones use on their psychological health in the form of sleep quality. 

2. Material and methods 
A cross sectional study conducted in Baqai Medical University from April 2019 to September 2019. Total 500 students from 
all classes (i.e. 1st to final year) were recruited for the study. Both male and female students having age between 17 to 24 years 
were given equal opportunity for participation. Participants who are using mobile phone for more than 2 years were included for 
the study. Students with the history of sleep disorders, metabolic disorders and drug and alcoholic use were excluded from the 
study. A self-administrated questionnaire form was designed according to literature survey. Students were informed about the 
objectives of the study.  Verbal and written informed consent was taken from each participant. The questionnaire was having 
two parts the first part was consisted on the questions regarding demographic data including age, gender, BMI score, academic 
year, frequency of mobile phone use, at which age they started using mobile phone and at which time they are using more mobile 
phone, second part assessed the sleep quality with help of Pittsburg sleep quality index. 

In the 2nd part of questionnaire questions were asked regarding the sleep quality and it was calculated by using Pittsburg Sleep 
Quality index  (Buysse et., al 1989). The study was approved by Institutional Ethical Committee of Baqai University. 

3. Results  
Out of 500 participants, the frequency of mobile phone usage was more in males 350 (70%) when compare to females 150 
(30%). Their age varied from 21to 24 with mean age of 20 ± 1.9 years. The students reported that most of the time they use 
mobile phone in night 188 (38%). According to 202 (40%) participants the total hours of mobile phone usage (hours /day) 
were unlimited. 366 (73%) students mentioned that they start using mobile phone at intermediate level and claimed that no 
surveillance of the parents being done as shown in table 2. Students stated multiple reasons for use of mobile phone, the 
highlighted one was surfing social media. The reasons for using mobile phone by the participants in the study group are given in 
the Table-3.  

Table 1. Demographic details of the study applicants 

Gender       N (%)  500 

Male       350 (70%) 

Female       150 (30%) 

 Age  



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18-20yrs     127 (25.4%) 

21-24yrs     373 (75%) 

  

 

Table 2.Analysis of mobile phone usage 

Time of mobile phone use 
Morning  
Afternoon  
Evening  
Night 

 
144 (29%) 
33    (6.6%) 
135   (27%) 
188   (38%) 

Total hours mobile phone use (hrs/day) 
>1-2 hrs 
>3-4 hrs 
5-10 hrs 
40-60 mins 
Unlimited 

 
54 (2.8%) 
65 (13%) 
122 (24.4%) 
57    (11.4%) 
202 (40%) 

At which class they start using mobile  
at matric level 
at intermediate level 
at university level 
before matric 

 
58 (11.6%) 
203 (40.6%) 
195 (39%) 
4   (0.8%) 

Surveillance of mobile phone by parents  
yes 
no 

 
134 (26.8%) 
366 (73.2%) 

 Who bears the expenditure of mobile phone 
parents 
siblings 
themself 
others 

 
284 (56.8%) 
125 (25%) 
87    (17.4%) 
4       (0.8%) 

Purpose of use of mobile 
study 
social media 

 
133 (26.6%) 
367 (37.4%) 

 Places where mobile phone mostly use 
Home  
Public places  
Class  
Eating  
Driving 

 
206 (41.2%) 
45   (9%) 
178 (35%) 
33   (6.6%) 
71   (14.2%) 

Insomnia 
yes 
no 

 
376 (75.2%) 
124 (24.8%) 

Table 3. Sleep routine of participants  

Time to go bed  
10am-12am 
12am-3am 
3am-5am 

 
12 (2.4%) 
256 (51.2%) 
127 (25.5%) 

Time taken to fall a sleep 
30mins 
>1hr 
>2hrs 

 
98 (19.6%) 
47 (9.4%) 
355 (71%) 
 



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Time to get up in the morning 
5am -7am 
7am-9am 
9am-11am 

 
159 (31) 
202  (40) 
139   (28) 

Wake at  middle of night 
yes  
not  

 
356 (71.2) 
244 (49 ) 

Sleep quality 
very good 
fairly good 
very bad 

 
165 (33%) 
289 (57) 
56   (11.2%) 

episodes of disorientation/confusion 
yes  
no  

 
345  (69) 
155   (31) 

Bad dreaming  
Yes  
No  

 
377  (75) 
123   (25) 

Cough/ snore loudly  
Yes  
No  

 
155  (31) 
345   (69) 

Restlessness during sleep  
Yes  
No  

 
405   (81) 
95       (19) 

 

Students who were using unlimited mobile phone reported that they take more than 1 hour to sleep that showed a significant (p-
value <0.001) correlation between more mobile phone use and time taken to sleep. The sleep quality in these participants who 
were using unlimited mobile was not good (p <0.001) and they fell restless during the sleep and episodes of disorientation were 
more in these participants as shown in table 2. 

Table 4 .Association among mobile phone users and effect on sleep quality 

Frequency of mobile phone use                      Unlimited use  

Half an hour More than 1 
hour` 

Sleepless whole night  p value  

 time take to sleep  
98 (19.6%) 

 
355 (71%) 

47 (9.4%) 0.001 

 Time taking to go to bed 10am-12am 
12 (2.4%) 

12am-3am 
256 (51.2%) 

3am-5am 
127 (25.5%) 

0.001 

Sleep quality  very good 
165 (33%) 

fairly good 
289 (57) 

very bad 
56   (11.2%) 

0.001 

 

4.  Discussions  
Mobile phone is undeniable in present time, majority of mobile phone users particularly in Asia are Youngers and teenagers 
(Chen, W. et al.,2005). In our study the frequency of mobile phone use was more in males as compare to females. According to 
Measuring the Information Society Report the fraction of male mobile users are greater than the women in most countries 
including Pakistan (Hilbert, M.2011). The night time was highlighted by our students for use of mobile phone that was parallel 
to the findings of Van den Bulck J. who reported that almost more than half of young population check their mobile phones 
after they have gone to bed(Van den Bulck, J. 2003) (Eggermont, S. et al., 2006) 

In our study most of the students were taking more than 2 hours to fall sleep. Use of mobile phones particularly in night have 
serious effect on eye sight it is documented that it can damage the central vision, blue light emitted from mobile can disturbed 
the production of melatonin hormone which regulate the sleep cycle not only this but mobile phone use also lead to a variety of 



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health problems including heart disease, cancers, weight gain, depression and anxiety (Repacholi, M. H. 2001) (Irmak, M. K. et 
al.,2002) (Gamble, A. L. et al.,2014). 

In our study majority of the students used their cell phones and social media for sharing of thoughts with their friends and 
families. It was reported in a study that medical students use social media accounts (facebook, whatsapp, and twitter) to 
overcome the stress produced by pressure of studies and exams (Ali, A. & Shaheen, S. et al.,2019). 

Besides its use as contacting device, mobile phones now are featured with documents, alarm, calendars, stop-watch, etc. These 
multifunction features of mobile phones cause an increase in mobile phone value, leading the users to perceive it as a must-have 
gadget (Khan, A. S. N. 2009) (Yang, J. 2013). 

In our study, 41.2% of students mentioned that they use mobile phones at home which may be due to constant communication 
with friends. Mobile phones are thought to be a worrying part in educational institutes, and 35% of students in this study 
declared that they use mobile phones in class rooms where they exchange text messages with friends rather than concentrating on 
lecture. 

The present study showed that excessively long hours of mobile phone use was associated with insomnia, particularly in students 
using mobile phones for more than 10 hours per day compared with those using mobile phones for less than 1 h per day. This 
study suggested that overuse of mobile could be a indicator of a higher risk of insomnia. 

5. Conclusion 
It is conclude that the mobile phone is now becoming essential part and allotment of the life among teenagers. Excessive mobile 
usage is associated with the poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances. Too much mobile phone usage cause adverse effect on 
psychological and physical heath. 

6. Limitations 
Participants were only medical students recruited from single medical university.  

7. Suggestions 
There is need to conduct such kind of studies on big sample size without age and occupational limit.  

Conflict of interest: There was no any conflict of interest by any author. 

Ethics approval: Study was approved by Ethical board of Baqai Medical University 

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