Association between neck and shoulder pain and smartphone usage among students of Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy

Abstract

Smartphone addiction can lead to physical and psychological disorders in users, such as headache, lack of concentration, insomnia, fatigue, increased neck pain and disabilities with reduced range of neck flexion and extension. The main aim of this study was to investigate the association between non - specific neck and shoulder pain and the use of smartphones. A cross - sectional study among 416 undergraduate students from Danang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy was conducted in 2019. The smartphone addiction scale - short version (SAS-SV) was used to assess smartphone addiction among students while the Neck Disability Index (NDI) scale was used to measure the severity of shoulder pain. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to seek associations between smartphone usage and students’ neck and shoulder pain. The prevalence of smartphone addiction among participants was 46.6%. The average NDI score was 5.31 ± 3.81. The results showed that daily average time using smartphones (p = 0.018) and the posture when using smartphones (p = 0.03) were significantly correlated to the severity of neck and shoulder pain. The multivariate logistic regression models indicated that the factors that have an independent impact on the student’s shoulder and neck pain were gender, school year and the addiction to smartphones. It is recommended to reduce the duration of smartphone use and maintain the proper body posture while using it such as sitting on a chair with a backrest, avoiding unfavorable positions such as lying or standing.