Serum and MRI Biomarkers in Mobile Device Texting: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Text messaging has become widespread, particularly among college-aged young adults. There is concern that high rates of texting may result in musculoskeletal disorders, including tendinopathies. We examined serum biomarkers, conventional MRI findings, and MRI mean intratendinous signal-to-noise ratio (MISI) of thumb tendons to determine if high volume texters (≥ 230 texts sent/day; n = 5) would be more likely than low volume texters (≤ 25 texts sent/day; n = 5) to have early onset tendinopathy and inflammation. Three of the high volume texters had MRI findings of tendinopathy as did one low volume texter. Increased serum TNF-R1 was found in high volume texters compared to low volume texters of college age, as were non-significant increases in MISI in 2 thumb tendons. Serum TNF-R1 and TNF-α correlated with the MISI in these tendons, as did IL1-R1. These results suggest that early onset tendinopathy with concurrent inflammation may be occurring in prolific texters. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.