Evaluating the relationship between smartphone addiction/overuse and musculoskeletal pain among university students

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 proportion of addictive/overuse of smartphones among university students and to investigate if there is an association between smartphone addiction and musculoskeletal pain. Method: A cross-sectional study conducted at Bangladeshi university students. 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 university students was relatively high (70%). The most frequent pain related to smartphone addiction was in the neck (66%) followed by upper back (35.8%), lower back (36.5%), wrists and joints (30.3%). The academic year level was statistically associated with the level of smartphone addiction. Moreover, a significant relationship found between musculoskeletal pain and smartphone addiction at certain body regions, neck and upper back other musculoskeletal parameters included in the test were found to have no statistically significant association. Conclusion: Almost three-quarters of the university students identified as addicted to smartphones. The most common musculoskeletal pain was the neck, upper back, lower back , wrist and hand joints. 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. Keywords: Addiction, medical students, musculoskeletal pain, Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire, smartphone, Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version