Abstract :
Background: Smartphone offer so many mobile applications for communication, education, and entertainment, they are quickly becoming an indispensable part of everyday life. When the neck is bent frequently forward to view the monitor for prolonged time, the muscles in the back of the neck are stressed. Bad posture can cause cervical spine flattening and pain.Aim and Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate smartphone addiction among Guwahati college students to determine how it relates to neck pain and neck disability.Materials and Methods: 358 college students in Guwahati participated in a cross-sectional study that used Google Forms to administer the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV). Surveys were made available online batch-wise following collection of informed consent. Ethical clearance has been collected from Institutional ethical committee before starting the study.Result: Results showed that out of 358 participants, 14 people without neck disabilities are addicted compared to 28 who are not. On the other hand, 143 people with mild neck disability are addicted, whereas 92 people are not. 54 out of 64 people with moderate disabilities, 14 out of 15 people with severe disabilities, and 2 people with total disabilities are classified as addicted, indicating that as the proportion of addicted individuals grows, disability severity increases.Conclusion: This study found that among Guwahati college students, a rise in Smartphone addiction is connected with an increase in neck pain and disability. Long-term smartphone users' neck pain can be lessened with good posture and ergonomic guidance.
Keyword :
Neck pain, Smartphone user, Posture correction, Ergonomic guidance.