Trial reportPhysiological reports2018
Unrestricted evening use of light-emitting tablet computers delays self-selected bedtime and disrupts circadian timing and alertness.
Trial report in Physiological reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Blue-light filtering spectacle lenses for visual performance, sleep, and macular health in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Melatonin-Measurement Methods and the Factors Modifying the Results. A Systematic Review of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Unrestricted evening use of light-emitting tablet computers delays self-selected bedtime and disrupts circadian timing and alertness.Physiological reports · 2018Trial
- Replication of acne susceptibility loci and gene-environment interactions with screen time in Singapore and Malaysia Chinese population.JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health · 2026Article
- The Relationship Between State Boredom and Sleep-Wake Disruptions: A Mediation Model via Smartphone Addiction and Bedtime Procrastination.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- High Doses of Melatonin Induce Seizure-like Cortical Activity: Electrophysiological and Behavioral Evidence.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Sleep Patterns, Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, and Sleep Disturbance Among First Nations Children in Saskatchewan.Clocks & sleep · 2025Article
- Scoping review of the measurement of care environment factors that impact sleep in the rehabilitation, subacute, and aged care settings.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2025Review
- Personal light treatment devices: a countermeasure to improve sleep, fatigue, and circadian misalignment in an operational setting.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2025Article
- Associations of self-reported sleep disturbances, sleep onset, and duration with gallstone disease risk.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Implementation of a teen sleep app in Canadian high schools: Preliminary evidence of acceptability, engagement, and capacity for supporting healthy sleep habits.Journal of sleep research · 2024Article
- The impact of screen use on sleep health across the lifespan: A National Sleep Foundation consensus statement.Sleep health · 2024Review
- Blue Light and Digital Screens Revisited: A New Look at Blue Light from the Vision Quality, Circadian Rhythm and Cognitive Functions Perspective.Journal of biomedical physics & engineering · 2024Review
- The Stability of Social and Behavioral Rhythms and Unexpected Low Rate of Relevant Depressive Symptoms in Old Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Examining the influence of problematic internet use on sleep quality in Chinese adolescents: a study using the extended Stressor-Strain-Outcome (SSO) model.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The mediating effect of after-midnight use of digital media devices on the association of internet-related addictive behavior and insomnia in adolescents.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Effects of evening smartphone use on sleep and declarative memory consolidation in male adolescents and young adults.Brain communications · 2024Article
- Seasonal Variation in the Responsiveness of the Melanopsin System to Evening Light: Why We Should Report Season When Collecting Data in Human Sleep and Circadian Studies.Clocks & sleep · 2023Article
- Relationship between Problematic Smartphone Use, Sleep Quality and Bedtime Procrastination: A Mediation Analysis.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Consumer electronic devices play an important role in modern society. Technological advancements continually improve their utility and portability, making possible the near-constant use of electronic devices during waking hours. For most people, this includes the evening hours close to bedtime. Evening exposure to light-emitting (LE) devices can adversely affect circadian timing, sleep, and alertness, even when participants maintain a fixed 8-hour sleep episode in darkness and the duration of evening LE-device exposure is limited. Here, we tested the effects of evening LE-device use when participants were allowed to self-select their bedtimes, with wake times fixed as on work/school days. Nine healthy adults (3 women, 25.7 ± 3.0 years) participated in a randomized and counterbalanced study comparing five consecutive evenings of unrestricted LE-tablet computer use versus evenings reading from printed materials. On evenings when using LE-tablets, participants' self-selected bedtimes were on average half an hour later (22:03 ± 00:48 vs. 21:32 ± 00:27 h; P = 0.030), and they showed suppressed melatonin levels (54.17 ± 18.00 vs. 9.75 ± 22.75%; P < 0.001), delayed timing of melatonin secretion onset (20:23 ± 01:06 vs. 19:35 ± 00:59 h; P < 0.001), and later sleep onset (22:25 ± 00:54 vs. 21:54 ± 00:25 h; P = 0.041). When using LE-tablets, participants rated themselves as less sleepy in the evenings (P = 0.030) and less alert in the first hour after awakening on the following mornings (P < 0.001). These findings demonstrate that evening use of LE-tablets can induce delays in self-selected bedtimes, suppress melatonin secretion, and impair next-morning alertness, which may impact the health, performance, and safety of users.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.