Prevalence and Effect of Social Media on Sleep among Students of Higher Institutions in Sokoto Metropolis, Sokoto State Nigeria

Background: Social media use is a very popular leisure activity that is common amongst young people globally. There is increasing evidence that students spend several hours daily on social media with affectation of sleep duration. Sleep duration of 7 to 9 hours daily is needed for normal healthy function of the human body. This study was conducted to determine the effect of social media on sleep pattern among students of higher institutions in Sokoto metropolis, Sokoto State. Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study carried out among 381 students of higher institutions in Sokoto metropolis using multistage sampling technique. Frequencies of the various variables were tabulated and chi-square tests were done as appropriate. Results: About 67.4% of the respondents were within the age group 20-24 years. A total of 97.9% of the respondents used social media with WhatsApp ((84.9%) and Facebook ((81.7%) being the commonly used platforms. More than a quarter ((27.4%) used social media for more than 3 hours in a day. About 92% of the respondents used social media at night. Almost half of the respondents who used social media at night have their sleep duration affected by its use. Those using it for more than 2 hours at night were 5 times more likely to have sleep affectation ((AOR=2.9 - 7.3, p<0.000). Conclusion: The study demonstrated high prevalence of social media use amongst students of higher institutions in Sokoto with a significant proportion of them having sleep duration shortened. Schools and the general public should be made to create awareness on the negative impact of using social media among students especially at night.