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PREVALENCE OF SMARTPHONE ADDICTION AND ITS IMPACT ON SLEEP QUALITY AND ASSOCIATED NECK DISABILITIES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF OOTY, INDIA

. Sankar Indira Prithika , Betsy Sara Biju, Ramakrishnan Ponnuthurai Prathipaa , Sivasankaran Ponnusankar, Hunsur Nagendra Vishwas


Abstract

Background: India experienced an enormous rise in smartphone usage since a decade. Prevalence of smartphone usage as well as internet addiction especially in young adults is increasing globally, which has various negative impact on the health and wellbeing.

Aim: Present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of smart phone addiction among the university students and to evaluate its impact on their neck health and sleep quality.

Methods:  Present prospective observational study was conducted in 466 university students (Mean age: 20.04 + 1.77; 49.3% men). Information related to demographics, socio-economic status, mobile phone usage was collected from the student participants. Participants were also subjected to questionnaires like Neck Disability Index scale (NDI), Smartphone Addiction scale (SAS) and Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index scale (PSQI). Higher scores indicated higher degree of addiction, neck disability and sleep problems. Finally, all the participants were subjected for neck angle measurements using Universal Goniometer. All the responses were recorded and analyzed using Mann Whitney U test and Pearson’s correlation.

Result:  About 73% of the study population reported a higher degree of smart phone addiction. Around 60% of the study population reported mild-moderate degree of neck disability and 1.28% of study population reported severe neck disability. Nearly two thirds of the study population reported mild degree of sleep disturbances (318 out of 466). Analysis revealed a weak-positive correlation between SAS scores along with PQSI and NDI scores respectively. (‘r’-0.287 & 0.310; p < 0.000).

Conclusion: Study clearly demonstrated that smart-phone addiction was associated with mild to moderate degree of sleep disturbance along with neck disability in young adults. We are in the opinion that smart phone usage in young adults should be restricted by self-motivation or else it can precipitate long-term complications.

 

Index Terms- Smartphone addiction, Smartphone overuse, Sleep quality, Neck disability, India

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