NOMOPHOBIA LEVELS OF FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES STUDENTS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the nomophobia levels of students studying in faculties of health sciences and its relationship with physical activity level. Method: The study was carried out with undergraduate students studying in the departments of physiotherapy and rehabilitation, nursing, nutrition and dietetics, audiology, child development and speech and language therapy at the Faculties of Health Sciences in different universities. The data were presented to the participants with an online questionnaire prepared through Google Forms. In addition to demographic and smartphone usage habits of the students, nomophobia levels were assessed with the Nomophobia Scale and physical activity levels were assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results: In the study completed with 231 students, it was found that 42.9% (n: 99) of the students used their mobile phones to access social media, 43.3% (n: 100) carried a charger with them when they were out and 65.4% (n: 151) thought that they used their mobile phones more than normal. Nomophobia behaviour was mild in 64 (27.7%), moderate in 110 (47.6%) and extreme in 57 (24.7%) students. There was a statistically significant and negative correlation between physical activity level and nomophobia level (p<0.05). Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between nomophobia and physical activity levels and nomophobia is present in the majority of health sciences faculty students with moderate to high severity. It is important to have informative activities for nomophobia behaviour and encouraging practices to increase physical activity level in universities in order to improve the mental and physical health of individuals in university age, which is an important age.