Correlation of Smartphone Addiction Leading to Text Neck Syndrome, Anxiety Disorder and Depression among AIMST University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Over the past decade, smartphone technology has spread rapidly worldwide. Excessive usage has resulted into smartphone addiction which may cause musculoskeletal disorders along with mental health disorders including anxiety and depression. Text neck syndrome is caused due to repetitive stress injury where the neck is flexed for prolonged hours.

Objective: To find the correlation between smartphone addiction with text neck syndrome, anxiety and depression.

Method: A sample of 359 students was recruited by convenient sampling to participate in the cross-sectional study. Correlation was evaluated with the help of questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Results: There was a predominance of females (n=251) over males (n=108) in our study. Mean±SD of SAS, NDI, BAI and BDI was 3.15±0.80, 6.20±5.06, 9.30±10.31, 7.74±7.98 respectively. Spearman correlation showed a positive correlation between SAS and NDI (r=0.254, p=0.000), SAS and BAI (r=0.156, p=0.003), and SAS and BDI (r=0.164, p=0.002) with level of significance at p value ≤0.05.

Conclusion: The study showed university students in Malaysia were inclined towards smartphone addiction and were exposed to neck disability, anxiety and depression.