Abstract
IntroductionProlonged physical exposure during smartphone usage results in poor posture causing pain in neck, shoulder, elbow, and hands. So, our aim was to investigate the effect of smartphone addiction on musculoskeletal pain.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out by a random sampling method from recognized institute in Bangladesh and India. Three hundred twenty-six participants, including male and female, aged between 18 and 30 years participated in this study. Candidates were requested to fill-up a performa containing demographics, Smartphone addiction scale-short form (SAS-SF), Shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI), Neck disability index (NDI), Oxford elbow score (OEC), and Cornell Hand Discomfort Questionnaire (CHDQ).ResultsThe mean age were 22.58 ± 3.19 years, weight 60 ± 11.30 kg, height 162.83 ± 9.74 cm, and body mass index (BMI) of the participants were 22.69 ± 4.36 kg/m2. 43.3% participants reported neck pain, 42.9% shoulder pain, and 27.9% reported pain on their elbow while prolonged smartphone use. There was major difference in NDI (p = 0.047), SPDI (p = 0.005), OES (p = 0.002), and CHDQ (p = < 0.001) among Bangladeshi and Indian population. The SAS has a significant association with NDI; p < 0.001, SPDI; p < 0.001, OES; p < 0.001, and CHDQ; p < 0.001.ConclusionSmartphone addiction negatively impacted and positively related with the musculoskeletal pain in neck, shoulder, elbow, and hand. Care should be given towards the proper use of smartphone and increase public awareness regarding the negative consequences of this serious issue.
Highlights
Prolonged physical exposure during smartphone usage results in poor posture causing pain in neck, shoulder, elbow, and hands
A digital consent was obtained from each participant after brief description of the purpose of the study putting a separate section in the form by asking a question “do you agree to undergo in this study?” The design of the study, data collection procedure, presentation of the data, and citation comply with the standard Committee on publication Ethics (COPE) guideline
0.622 0.014 0.185 0.359 0.489 0.465 < 0.001 of smartphone use, time spent on social media, chatting with friends, watching YouTube videos, and playing online/ offline games per day shown in Table 1. 43.3% participants reported neck pain, 42.9% shoulder pain and 27.9% reported pain on their elbow while prolonged smartphone use
Summary
Prolonged physical exposure during smartphone usage results in poor posture causing pain in neck, shoulder, elbow, and hands. Forward head posture can lead to the onset of neck and back pain syndromes [1]. During this activity, the user is fixed in one position for a prolonged time without any movement leading to the development of fatigueness of muscles and causes various musculoskeletal disorders [3]. A recent study in India reported that as a cause of prolonged smartphone use, 46.9% of students have pain in their neck and 29.2% in their thumb [5]. The smartphone addiction is termed as non-chemical addiction or so called technological addiction [7]
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