A study of smart phone addiction and effects on perceived stress in medical students in a tertiary hospital in central India

ABSTRACT

Background: Usage of smart phones is on the rise not top exclude medical students. Stress among medicalstudents is also known due to various reasons. A study to assess addiction to smart phones in medicalstudents and its relation to the perceived stress in them was planned in a tertiary care hospital in centralIndia. There are 2 aims- 1) To study hours of phone and social media use and smart phone addiction inmedical students 2) To study the levels of perceived stress in them and its relation to the levels of smartphone addictionMethods: Medical students willing to participate in the study and those having android phones wereexplained the nature of research study and were enrolled after written and informed consent. They wereasked to install a free application called app usage tracker from play store so as to track their phone usage.Confidentiality of personal information d data was ensured and informed to participants of the study. Datawas collected at end of 7 days. Stress was assessed using perceived stress scale and addiction assessed usingsmart phone addiction scale. Data was tabulated and analysed using SPSS 17.Results: 52 males (51.5%) males and 48 (48.5%) females participated in the study. Mean age of students19.4 years (range 17-26)88.1 % were single while others in a relationship. 56.4% stayed in hostels whileothers in their family. All of them used android phones. The average use of smart phone was 6.5 hours/ day(range 1-14 hours) as calculated by the phone application. Mean score on students on smart phone addictionscale was 36.16 (range 11-60, mean Cut off being 20, indicating most of the participants were addicted totheir smart phones. Mean score on the perceived stress scale was 20.73 indicating that the study participantshad moderate levels of stress (14-26). The correlation between smart phone addiction and the perceivedstress in students was positive and significant.Conclusion: The addiction is thus a matter of concern for medical students and their future. It is alsopertinent to note that, as the study points out, that medical students are continuously under a moderate levelstress. Stressed individuals trying to find solace in their phones are again more vulnerable and at more riskof developing mental illnesses like insomnias, anxiety, depression, substance dependence etc