Investigation of Screen Time Inclination and the Accompanying Visual and Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Young Smartphone Users

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the screen time inclination and its accompanying visual and musculoskeletal discomfort in young smartphone users. Thirty-one smartphone users aged between 20 - 30 years old were recruited through convenient sampling. The screen time patterns were recorded daily for a week and documented using Action Dash on Google Play Store according to the times of the day (morning, afternoon evening and night). Accompanying visual and musculoskeletal symptoms were examined through a self-reporting questionnaire survey. The questions used in the questionnaire were adapted and modified from the Asthenopia Questionnaire and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Results showed that young smartphone users spent approximately 30 % of their time on screen and were relatively similar for different times of the day. Daily screen time was approximately 7.36 ± 1.74 h. Most users engaged in WhatsApp (74 %), followed by YouTube (68 %), Instagram (65 %) and Twitter (39 %). Tired eyes were reported by all smartphone users. A positive correlation was only found between weekly screen time and eye strain (p < 0.05). All musculoskeletal symptoms were self-reported by young smartphone users in our study but anatomical locations varied in percentages. Neck pain was the most significant musculoskeletal symptom associated with screen time (OR = 4.80, 95 % CI: 0.95 - 24.14, p < 0.05). Every smartphone user reported at least 1 type of visual symptom. All smartphone users reported tired eyes. In conclusion, our results showed that smartphone users spent one third of their time daily on-screen and mostly on social media. Tired eyes and neck pain were the most common accompanying symptoms. Visuo-skeletal symptoms are common among young and healthy smartphone users. Our findings advocate that future strategic plans to address digital related health problems from the perspective of health education, promotion and protection should be inclusive of youth. 
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 Excessive screen time is a public health concern
 Adverse health implications have been linked to excessive electronic usage
 Smartphone users spend one-third of their time daily on-screen and mostly on social media
 Visuo-skeletal symptoms are common among young and healthy smartphone users
 Tired eyes and neck pain are the most common accompanying symptoms
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Multidimensional Scale to Assess Digital Security in Adolescents

“…Consistent with the literature on online security (Curran & Ribble, 2017;Chen et al, 2022;Hamza et al, 2019;Gallego-Arrufat et al, 2019), our findings provide evidence supporting online security as a multidimensional construct. We found online security to be a one second-order factor model that includes four first-order factors, confirming that digital security should be conceptualized and measured as a multidimensional construct.…”

“…There is a consensus on digital security as a multidimensional construct that involves multiple aspects such as personal data protection, safe relationships, healthy internet use, and self-disclosure (Chen et al, 2022;Curran & Ribble, 2017;Gallego-Arrufat et al, 2019;Hamza et al, 2019;Nowell et al, 2022). Personal data protection involves actions aimed at averting wide-ranging online problems related to the misuse of personal information (Chen et al, 2021).…”

“…Personal data protection involves actions aimed at averting wide-ranging online problems related to the misuse of personal information (Chen et al, 2021). Healthy internet use refers to actions necessary to ensure individuals' physical and psychological health (Chen et al, 2022;Gallego-Arrufat et al, 2019;Hamza et al, 2019). Safe relationships mean being careful about one's online relations, which can lead to risky and painful outcomes.…”

“…Based on previous work that conceptualizes online security as a multidimensional construct (Chen et al, 2022;Curran & Ribble, 2017), this study develops a new measure, the Digital Security Scale in Adolescents (DSS-A), and examines the validity of the scale scores in a sample of Mexican adolescents. We tested the content validity and dimensionality of a second-order measurement model of digital security with four first-order factors: (a) personal data protection, (b) safe relationships, (c) healthy internet use, and (d) selfdisclosure.…”