Estimation and prevention of text neck syndrome among smart phone users

M Kamalakannan,R Padma Priya,R Rakshana

doi:10.51248/.v40i3.30

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Text neck syndrome has become a global musculoskeletal problem in relation to all the ages who uses the mobile phone. The aim of the study was to investigate the neck posture, self-report of pain and disability in smart phone users, and to identify the preventive measures of text neck syndrome. Materials and methods: 253 students were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were assessed by measuring the resting head posture using a ruler’s method and A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all subjects. The data obtained was tabulated and statistically analysed. Results: Results were statistically analysed using Chi-square test. Questionnaire includes totally 10 domains. Each question is given with three to five options. Conclusion: Frome the study it was concluded that most of the people are using phone in the non- ergonomic way. 90% of the people were affected by neck related musculoskeletal problems. Prevention is the only key to avoid text neck syndrome. Keywords: Mobile phone; neck posture; cervical spine; text neck syndrome; hazards; preventive measures.

Highlights

Introduction and AimText neck syndrome has become a global musculoskeletal problem in relation to all the ages who uses the mobile phone
Text neck syndrome has become a global epidemic affecting the larger number of population of almost all the ages who uses the mobile phone
Text neck syndrome may cause harmful effects on cervical spine, supporting musculature, ligaments, nerves, tendons and bony segments eventually reversing the natural curvature of spine, leading to early spinal arthritis, disc degeneration, headache, up to 30% decrease in lung capacity [3]

Summary

Introduction

Text neck syndrome has become a global musculoskeletal problem in relation to all the ages who uses the mobile phone. Text neck syndrome has become a global epidemic affecting the larger number of population of almost all the ages who uses the mobile phone. The term text neck or another phrase “turtle neck posture” can be described as overuse syndrome or repetitive stress injury to the neck caused by having head in forward and downward position looking at his or her phone or other electronic devices for extended period of time [2]. Undue stress is imposed on the vertebrae of lower neck due to forward pull of the weight of the head leads to degeneration of disk and other degenerative neck problems. Poor posture can cause the upper back muscle to work continuously to counterbalance the pull of the gravity and forward neck [4]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion