Mobile Phones: Vital Addiction or Lethal Addiction? Mobile Phone Usage Patterns and Assessment of Mobile Addiction among Undergraduate Medical Students in Telangana, India

BACKGROUND: Increased mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students causes a detrimental effect on their health. The main focus of this study is to determine the pattern of mobile phone usage among undergraduate medical students in Hyderabad, India, and the detrimental effect on their health due to excess mobile use. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students from various medical colleges in Hyderabad, India, from September 2020 to January 2021. Data were collected from 626 respondents using a semistructured, pretested questionnaire. Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) was used to assess the risk of smartphone addiction. Microsoft Excel and SAS were employed to analyze the data. Associations were examined using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: 100% of the respondents were using mobiles, with 83.2% spending more than 4 hours on them. Only 22% reported that no mobile use during classes. Half (51.6%) admitted to keeping their mobiles close by while sleeping. 84.3% used social networking apps via their mobiles. Common symptoms arising from prolonged mobile usage included eye strain (67.9%), blurred vision (31.4%), and numbness or tingling in palms (30.9%). 52.70% of the respondents were at high risk of mobile addiction according to SAS-SV. Screen time more than 4 hours was associated with high risk of mobile addiction (p < 0.0001). Significant association was found between high risk of mobile addiction and eye strain (p < 0.0001), blurry vision (p=0.0115), numbness/tingling in palms (p < 0.0001), and heat/tingling in the auditory area (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study shows the alarming rate of risk of smartphone addiction among medical students. Students can be encouraged to assess their mobile addiction status and become aware of the issue. More research may be performed to develop standardized tools for early identification of mobile addiction and appropriate therapies for its rectification.