Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Students of Faculty of Medicine in North Sumatera

Abstract

Introduction: The popularity of cell phones among the younger generation has increased rapidly in a short period leading to the high prevalence of smartphone addiction among adolescents worldwide, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown period. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with smartphone addiction measured by the Indonesian version of the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short version (SAS-SV) score in both preclinical and clerkship students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to December 2020 in preclinical and clerkship students of the Faculty of Medicine from the Universitas Sumatera Utara, North Sumatra Islamic University, Hospital of North Sumatra University, and Hospital of Haji Medan academic year of 2019-2020. The Indonesian version of the SAS-SV questionnaire was distributed to the study subjects through Google Form. Results: Bivariate analysis showed all variables to be significantly associated with SAS-SV score (all p values were <0.05). Meanwhile, multivariate analysis showed all variables but the type of smartphone and the closest family members to be significantly associated with the SAS- SV score. Conclusion: Age, gender, education level, monthly income, duration of smartphone use, sleep duration, parental educational background, monthly internet costs, and other uses of smartphones were found to be associated with smartphone addiction as measured by the Indonesian version of the SAS-SV score. Meanwhile, the type of smartphone and the closest family members were not associated with smartphone addiction as measured by the Indonesian version of the SAS-SV score.