Prevalence of nomophobia and use of social networking sites and applications – A cross-sectional study among undergraduate students in a medical college of Eastern India

Abstract

Background: Nomophobia (NMP) refers to the discomfort or anxiety caused by the nonavailability of a mobile phone, computer, or any other virtual communication device. It is considered as a modern age phobia due to interaction between people and communication technologies, especially smartphones. Objectives: The objective was to know the prevalence of NMP and to study the pattern and dependence on most popular social networking sites and applications among medical undergraduates. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students of a medical college. Data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, use and addiction to smartphones, Internet, social networking sites, and messaging applications were collected and analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Among 338 students, 87.6% were using their smartphones most of the time in a day. About 56.6% of the students liked to come back to get their smartphone if they had forgotten while going out. All had access to Wi-Fi and 96.2% had their own Internet connection. About 47.6% used Internet immediately after waking up in the morning. Common symptoms seen with loss of contact with their smartphone were loneliness (40.6%), panic attacks (10.4%), depression (5.7%), etc., All students had NMP and among them, 22.1% had mild, 61.5% had moderate, and 16.4% had severe NMP. Conclusion: The concept of NMP is doubtful to be considered as a disorder, but it has become a serious modern-day problem and should be intervened at the earliest.