Evaluating the relationship between smartphone addiction/overuse and musculoskeletal pain among medical students at Qassim University
Alsalameh AM, Harisi MJ, Alduayji MA, Almutham AA, Mahmood FM
Journal of family medicine and primary care · 78 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cross-sectional study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
Based on full-text disclosure statement.
Publication
- Published
- 2019-09-01 · J Family Med Prim Care · vol. 8 · issue 9 · pp. 2953–2959
- Publisher
- Medknow
- Cited
- 170 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 17.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 30 works
- Access
- Open access (journal) · CC-BY-NC-SA
- Research areas
- Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- smartphone addiction, smartphone overuse, musculoskeletal pain, medical students, neck pain, low back pain, shoulder pain, wrist and hand pain, knee pain, posture, prevalence
5 authors
From SA
- AbdullahM Alsalameh · correspondingQassim University
- MohammadJ HarisiQassim University
- Muath A. AlduayjiQassim University
- Abdullah AlmuthamQassim University
- Farid Midhet MahmoodQassim University
Abstract
Background
Smartphone use has greatly increased in recent days, and most of the daily tasks are done through these devices. As a result, long time use may involve bad posture that may result in musculoskeletal pain. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the association between addiction/overuse of smartphones and musculoskeletal pain.
Aim
To determine the prevalence of addictive/overuse of smartphones among medical students and to investigate if there is an association between smartphone addiction and musculoskeletal pain.
Method
A cross-sectional study conducted at Qassim University, medical college. The Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to measure the level of smartphone addiction while the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ) was utilized to evaluate the musculoskeletal pain.
Results
The prevalence of smartphone addiction among medical students was relatively high (60.3%). The most frequent pain related to smartphone addiction was in the neck (60.8%), followed by lower back (46.8%), shoulder (40.0%). The academic year level was statistically associated with the level of smartphone addiction. Moreover, we found a significant relationship between musculoskeletal pain and smartphone addiction at certain body regions, neck, wrist/hand and knees, Other musculoskeletal parameters included in the test were found to have no statistically significant association.
Conclusion
More than half of the medical students identified as addicted to smartphones. The most common musculoskeletal pain was the neck, lower back, and shoulder. The academic year level found to have a significant association with the level of smartphone addiction while musculoskeletal pain such as neck, wrist, and knee were the independent significant factors of smartphone addiction; therefore, it is important to educate the community about the effect of being addicted to smartphone use in order to prevent the consequences of this behavior.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-SA).
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