Evaluating the relationship between smartphone addiction/overuse and musculoskeletal pain among medical students at Qassim University

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of family medicine and primary care Vol. 8; no. 9; pp. 2953 - 2959
Main Authors:	Alsalameh, Abdullah, Harisi, Mohammad, Alduayji, Muath, Almutham, Abdullah, Mahmood, Farid
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01-09-2019 Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
Subjects:	Addiction Medical schools Medical students Musculoskeletal diseases musculoskeletal pain Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire Original Risk factors Smart phones smartphone Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version Students Saudi Arabia Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire musculoskeletal pain smartphone Addiction Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version medical students
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2249-4863 2278-7135
DOI:	10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_665_19