Factors related to smartphone use and neck pain among physiotherapy university students – a cross-sectional study

Introduction and Objective.Smartphones have penetrated everyones lives, including students.Smartphones force the user to maintain a certain head position in order to look at the phones small monitor and perform repetitive movements in one position for a long time, which may cause musculoskeletal disorders.Socio-demographic factors, such as gender, age and body mass index, are thought to be associated with musculoskeletal pain associated with use of the electronic device.Given the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among students and the growing number of people using smartphones, the aim of the study was to determine the factors related to smartphone use and neck pain among physiotherapy university students.Materials and Method.This study involved 142 men and women, aged between 18 26 years.All participants completed an original survey containing questions about smartphone use and neck pain.Results.Statistically significant effect of gender (chi=7.67,p=0.006), age when first owning a mobile phone (chi=7.28,p=0.03), pain in the thumb (chi=4.86p=0.03), and selfassessment of spending too much time using the phone (chi=7.27p=0.007 were found.There was no statistically significant relationship between neck pain and situations where students use their phones.Conclusions.People, especially women, who received a cell phone at a younger age are more likely to report neck pain.While there is no statistically significant association between neck pain and situations in which students use cell phones, efforts should be made to educate students about digital hygiene.