Introduction. The ongoing transformation of general education has introduced new health risks for students due to their intensive use of digital learning tools.

Materials and methods. The study was conducted at innovative educational institutions in Orenburg. We assessed eight hundred sixty two students divided into three groups based on their varying durations of exposure to digital learning tools. The assessment evaluated their overall physiological state, stress levels, cognitive activity, anxiety, negative emotional states, and internet addiction.

Results. As the time spent using electronic devices increases, nervous response instability intensifies, heart rate regulation patterns change, and students’ functional reserves become depleted. The highest levels of device usage lead to an increase by 19.7% in stress levels, a 57.7% increase in anxiety, and a 96.5% increase in negative emotional states among high school students. Furthermore, 2.7% of high school students exhibit internet addiction, while 22.7% show a predisposition to it.

Limitations. The study was conducted on the basis of two innovative educational institutions in Orenburg, where the use of various types of electronic learning tools is long-term, which does not allow for full extrapolating of the results to students in traditional educational institutions.

Conclusion. Elementary school students spend more than five hours a day using electronic devices, middle school students spend over seven hours, and high school students spend more than 11 hours daily. This extensive usage alters heart rate regulation patterns and affects the functioning of the central and autonomic nervous systems. Increased screen time leads to unstable nervous system responses, heightened anxiety and stress, depletion of functional reserves, adverse emotional states, and a growing predisposition to internet addiction.

Compliance with ethical standards. The study complies with the latest revision of the Helsinki Declaration; approved by the local ethics committee of the Orenburg State Medical University. All participants and their legal representatives provided voluntary written informed consent to participate in the study.

Contribution: Setko N.P., Setko A.G. – concept and design of the study, editing; Lukyanov S.E., Zhdanova O.M. – collecting and processing the material, statistical processing, writing the text. All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: April 17, 2026 / Revised: June 30, 2026 / Accepted: July 1, 2026 / Published: October 20, 2026