Unrestricted evening use of light-emitting tablet computers delays self-selected bedtime and disrupts circadian timing and alertness

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.