JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The Effect of Evening Technology Use on Objective Sleep in Older Adults: Protocol for A Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial Evening technology use (ETU) has been associated with sleep disturbances, often due to blue light exposure and cognitive arousal. However, most of the existing evidence focuses on younger populations and relies primarily on subjective measures. As older adults increasingly engage with both passive and active digital content, it is important to study how evening technology use impacts objective sleep. Currently, there is also limited understanding of how particular evening digital activities, especially active versus passive engagement, affect objective sleep in older adults.

Objective:

This study aims to investigate how exposure to ETU impacts objective and subjective sleep outcomes in older adults.

Methods:

This is a randomized crossover trial involving approximately 50 adults aged 60–75 years from the ongoing Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC-Blekinge). Each participant will undergo three one-week intervention periods: Active digital content, Passive digital content, and a non-digital activity (book reading), with one-week washout periods in between. The order of interventions will be randomized. Sleep will be assessed using a home-based EEG device (MUSE headband) and daily self-reports. Primary outcomes are sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset (WASO). Secondary outcomes include objective measures such as total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and time spent in REM, deep, and light sleep, subjective sleep quality, adherence, and perception of the intervention and comfort of using the objective measurement tool, i.e., the EEG headband.

Results:

Participant recruitment is expected to begin in Fall 2025 and continue through Spring 2026. Data collection is scheduled to be completed by Spring 2027. Results will include participant flow, baseline characteristics, adherence data, and comparative analyses of the three intervention conditions. Within-subject statistical models will be used to evaluate differences in sleep outcomes and explore associations between ETU and sleep quality.

Conclusions:

Conclusions This study will provide insights into how evening technology use and types of evening use influence sleep in older adults and whether passive digital content offers benefits similar to non-digital routines. Findings may contribute to more specific digital sleep hygiene guidelines and support content-based personalization in eHealth interventions for older populations. Clinical Trial: NCT07001514