Comparative study of nerve conduction parameters in peripheral nerves of upper limb (dominant hand) in mobile users with different usage time and type

ABSTRACT

Background: With the advancement in digital world, but smart phone usage has increased among all age groups but youngsters are involved in heavy gaming on smart phones which has led to increased risk of ill-effects especially on eyes and hands. Aim and Objectives: The study was designed to study the ill-effects of excessive usage if smart phones on peripheral nerves of hands especially of dominant hand among young adults. Materials and Methods: Nerve conduction study was performed on 100 young adults who were divided into three groups on the basis of mobile usage time. Nerve conduction velocities as well as distal latencies of motor and sensory nerves of the dominant hand were measured among different groups. Results: One-way ANOVA test was applied to study the results among different groups. Although no significant difference in conduction velocity or latency was observed in motor or sensory nerves among three groups, Ulnar sensory conduction velocity has been found to be slow as well as distal latency was found to be prolonged in third group with heavy usage of smart phones as compared to other groups. Conclusion: The reason for the above results could be due to less usage time in hours as well as in years due to which no significance differences were observed in conduction velocity/distal latency in our study. Hence, further studies are suggested with more sample size and more usage time in terms of years as well as in hours.