People who spend more pre-bedtime hours using the Internet or watching television are more likely to report that they don't get enough sleep, even though they sleep almost as long as people who spend fewer pre-bedtime hours in front of a computer or television screen, survey findings show. 

    "While many people use electronic media, such as the Internet, it should be noted that the longer media use before sleep can trigger (self-perceived) insufficient sleep," lead researcher Dr Nakamori Suganuma, of Osaka University, Japan, told the reporter. 

    He and colleagues obtained data on self-perceived sleep problems and the use of electronic media prior to bedtime from a total of 5,875 Japanese respondents in two separate Internet-based surveys. Their findings are published in the journal Sleep and Biological Rhythms. 

    Nearly half of the respondents associated their lack of sleep with electronic media use before bedtime. Those reporting longer electronic media use were also more likely to report insufficient sleep. 

    Overall, 29 percent of light users (less than 1.5 hours) listed electronic media use as a possible cause of their insufficient sleep. By comparison, 40 percent of medium users (1.5 to 3 hours) and 54 percent of heavy users (more than 3 hours) said the same. 

    However, longer Internet and television use before bedtime did not correlate with less actual sleep. 

    While heavy users averaged about 3 more hours in front of computer or television screens than light users, the heavy users averaged only about 12 minutes less pre-workday sleep time than light users. 

    Notably, Suganuma said, "Internet use affected self-perceived insufficient sleep more than TV watching ... not only in younger Internet users but also in middle-aged or aged Internet users." 

    Up to 38 percent of the respondents listed accessing the Internet far into the night as a possible cause for their sleep disturbance, while about 25 percent said watching television far into the night caused their sleep problems. 

    The findings suggest that while heavy computer and television use before bedtime has a small effect on sleep duration, it may have a more significant effect on "sleep demand and sleep quality," Suganuma notes. 

    調查顯示，睡前長時間上網或看電視的人稱自己睡眠不足的幾率更大，即使他們的睡眠時間與在睡前上網或看電視時間較短的人一樣多。 

    首席研究員、日本大阪大學的菅沼中森在接受記者采訪時說：“如今，很多人使用互聯網等電子媒體，但應該注意的是，睡前長時間使用會引起（自我感覺的）睡眠不足。” 

    他與其他同事通過兩個在線調查，收集了5875名日本受訪者有關自我感覺的睡眠問題及睡前使用電子媒體的數據。調查結果在《睡眠與生物節律》期刊上發表。 

    近一半的受訪者認為睡眠不足與睡前使用電子媒體有關。稱長時間使用電子媒體的人說自己睡眠不足的幾率更大。 

    總體來看，有29%的輕度使用者（少于1.5小時）將使用電子媒體列為可能導致睡眠不足的原因。而有40%的中度使用者（1.5至3小時）和54%的重度使用者（3小時以上）持相同看法。 

    然而，睡前長時間上網或看電視時間與實際睡眠較少并不相關。 

    重度使用者上網或看電視的時間比輕度使用者平均多3個多小時，但他們工作日期間的睡眠時間平均僅比輕度使用者少12分鐘。 

    菅沼特別指出，“無論是年輕網民還是中老年網民，上網比看電視更會讓他們感覺睡眠不足。” 

    多達38%的受訪者認為上網至深夜可能是睡眠不足的一個原因，25%的人說看電視看到很晚是出現睡眠問題的原因。 

    調查表明，睡前過度上網或看電視對睡眠時間沒什么太大影響，菅沼說，這可能會對“睡眠需求和睡眠質量”產生更為顯著的影響。 

    Vocabulary:

    pre-bedtime :睡前