Effects of Smoking on the Sleep-Wakefulness Cycle: Actigraphic Research Among University Students
Abstract
Introduction: Sleep is one of the most important biological processes of human beings, and its functions are essential to cognitive and emotional as well as mental and physical health. Nicotine, a chemical stimulant in cigarettes and e-cigarettes, acts both as a stimulant and a relaxant on the human central nervous system. Cigarette and e-cigarette smoking may not only delay sleep onset and reduce total sleep time but also alter the normal sleep stage architecture. In addition to lower academic performance, inadequate sleep quality and disrupted circadian rhythms are also known to cause various other poor health outcomes in both physical and mental health, including increases in chronic disease, especially in university students. This study aimed to assess the effect of cigarette and e-cigarette smoking on the sleep-wakefulness cycle in students of the University of Georgia, Tbilisi, objectively, using wearable actigraphy. Questionnaires were collected to assess the same effects subjectively.
Methods: This study design was a cross-sectional observational design of 18-25-year-old university students categorized into current cigarette/e-cigarette users (smokers) and current non-smokers who reported at least one year without smoking/vaping. The data for the sleep-wakefulness parameters were collected using wrist-worn wearable devices manufactured by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Zepp Health Corporation and measured for seven continuous days of the total sleep duration,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Tobacco and COPD: presenting the World Health Organization (WHO) Tobacco Knowledge Summary
- Comparative effects of e-cigarette smoking on periodontal status, salivary pH, and cotinine levels
- Association between exposure to environmental pollutants and increased oral health risks, a comprehensive review
- Influence of gestational window on offspring vascular health in rodents with in utero exposure to electronic cigarettes
- Natural products as kinase inhibitors in lung cancer: molecular mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and clinical trials
- Nicotine in electronic cigarettes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.