Investigating the influence of smartphone usage on musculoskeletal health in Saudi Arabian university students: A cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Background

Smartphone use has increased exponentially worldwide, becoming an integral part of many people's daily lives and potentially has been associated with higher MSD severity scores.

Objective

To investigate the association between smartphone use and musculoskeletal health problems in relation to demographic factors, behavioral/activity factors and smartphone use with musculoskeletal disorder severity scores at seven anatomical sites in Saudi university students.

Methods

The present study used a self-modified questionnaire to assess the mean severity scores of Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) among 856 students at Jazan University. MANOVA was used to examine the multivariate associations between demographic/academic factors and smartphone use exposure with MSD severity scores. When the results were significant, ANOVA was performed on seven sites, with Benjamini-Hochberg FDR correction across sites. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons were only performed on sites that remained after FDR correction, using within-site BH-FDR/Holm correction.

Results

MANOVA showed that phoning (hr./day) significantly affected the severity of MSD in the upper (p = 0.008) and lower back (p = 0.049). Among behavioral/activity factors, watching videos were associated with all sites (except upper back); texting and social media use were associated with shoulder and neck. Post-hoc analysis demonstrated a dose-response relationship between daily gaming time and the severity of hand/palm and elbow injuries.

Conclusion

The present study validates a persistent behavioral connotation between smartphone use and MSD severity score in different parts of the body. The strongest and most widespread associations stemmed from specific smartphone use behaviors, particularly watching videos, sending text messages, playing games, and using social media.