The Correlation Analysis between Hours of Smartphone Use And Neck Pain in the Gachon University Students

Abstract

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to analysis the relationship between hours of smartphone use and neck pain in university students. Methods : A survey of 2,353 university students was conducted in Gyeonggi province and Incheon city using a self report questionnaire from April 1 to 11 2013. The questionnaire of questions regarding the hours of using smartphone, mainly used function in participant's smartphone and neck discomfort degree. Neck disability index(NDI) was used to evaluate degree of pain. The collected data were analyzed with the t-test and Kendall's tau test using the SPSS 21.0 program and R 3.1.0, respectively. Results : 1. Almost all of the survey participants(99.07 %) were smartphone users. 66.97 % of them answered that they use their smartphone daily more than 2 hours and 48.18 % of them answered that they use their smartphone 10 to 30 minutes everytime they use it. 2. The overall distribution of NDI scores was 'no disability(0~4 score, 62.92 %)', 'mild disability(5~14 score, 32.85 %)', 'moderate disability(15~24 score, 1.19 %)'. As a result of t-test, we found that the average NDI score for female students was significantly higher than the average NDI score for male students(p<0.05). 3. The Kendall's tau test revealed that total time spent daily using smartphones has a strong positive correlation with 'pain intensity', 'lifting', 'reading' 'headache', 'concentration', and 'driving'(p<0.05) in NDI. Also, time duration of one time smartphone usage has a strong positive correlation with 'pain intensity', 'lifting', 'reading', 'headache', 'concentration', 'work', and 'recreation'(p<0.05). 4. The Kendall's tau test revealed that total NDI scores have a significantly strong positive correlation with both of total time spent daily using smartphones(p<0.05) and time duration for one time smartphone usage(p<0.05). This results imply that long-time use of smartphone has a strong relationship with neck pain. Conclusions : The results of the study would be a good starting point for future studies to reduce the risks of chronic neck pain caused by smartphone usage.

Factors associated with neck disorders among university student smartphone users

“…Participants of this study maintained significantly increased neck flexion angle when operating a smartphone (44.7 • ), with the mobile devices set on a table (46.4 • ), and while performing a typing task (45.6 • ) [23]. This study had apparently shown that during smartphone use, smartphone users also maintained their head flexion in various angles conforming to Lee et al [13]. They also demonstrated that the magnitude of neck flexion was affected by the size of the screen, device location and the tasks performed [29].…”

“…While smartphone users have different usages compared with tablet users such as posture, previous studies which used self-report methods demonstrate four individual factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders in both groups. These factors were: (i) smartphone usage, people with higher smartphone use had more severe symptoms [12]; (ii) gender, females who use smartphones had a significantly higher neck disability index score than males (p < 0.001) [13]; (iii) age of user, older persons and (iv) lack of exercise also increased the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders [10].…”

The presence of altered craniocervical posture and mobility in smartphone-addicted teenagers with temporomandibular disorders

“…It is also known that misalignment of the upper cervical posture can induce alterations in muscular tone, musculoskeletal dysfunction, and pain, even resulting in structural damage to the head and shoulders 9 ) . Other studies have found that smartphone use could be related to musculoskeletal symptoms, including muscular fatigue and tenderness, as well as a decreased cervical range of motion 10 , 11 ) .…”

Effects of smartphone overuse on headache, sleep and quality of life in migraine patients

“…5 The clinical characteristics of headache related to smartphone overuse have been reported in the literature. 6,7 Additionally, smartphone overuse can cause physical, mental and behavioural health problems such as addiction, forgetfulness, blurred vision and pain in the hands and neck. 8 Migraine is a type of chronic headache, and the frequency of migraine episodes gradually decreases with age.…”