Abstract: Sleep disruption and circadian misalignment are increasingly recognised as important public health concerns due to their established associations with impaired daytime functioning, metabolic dysregulation, and adverse mental health outcomes. Although these disturbances have been widely investigated in urban and occupational populations, empirical evidence from rural Himalayan settings remains limited. The present community-based cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sleep disruption and circadian misalignment among adults in a rural Himalayan village and to examine their association with lifestyle-related factors, with particular emphasis on evening tea consumption as the principal source of caffeine and pre-sleep electronic device use. The study was conducted among 100 adults (≥18 years) residing in Gamru village, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India, using a structured questionnaire that assessed sleep duration, weekday–weekend variation in sleep timing (social jetlag), electronic device use before bedtime, evening tea intake, and sleep-related disturbances. Descriptive statistics were generated, and associations were examined using chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Circadian misalignment was reported by 69% of participants, while 53% reported daily pre-sleep electronic device use and 60% reported regular evening tea consumption. Although most participants (62%) reported sleeping 7–8 hours per night, a substantial proportion experienced daytime fatigue (60%) and frequent nocturnal awakenings (29%). These findings indicate that sleep disruption and circadian misalignment are highly prevalent even in this rural Himalayan community and suggest that ongoing lifestyle transitions, particularly increased screen exposure and habitual evening tea consumption, may contribute to compromised sleep quality and circadian alignment. Community-level sleep health education focusing on circadian-aligned routines and moderation of evening stimulant intake is therefore warranted.
Keywords: Sleep disruption; Circadian misalignment; Social jetlag; Tea consumption; Sleep–wake cycle; Rural health; Lifestyle factors

Downloads: | DOI: 10.17148/IARJSET.2025.121262