Musculoskeletal Pain and Postural Abnormalities among Smartphone-Using Digital Natives

Abstract

The younger generations are labeled "digital native" among whom smartphone penetration and adoption is high. However, the health consequences of intense utilization of smartphones as a contributor to the increasing prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in young adults are less explored. This study investigated patterns of musculoskeletal pain, postural abnormalities, and smartphone usage among undergraduate university students. Four hundred (200 males and 200 females) two-staged sampled undergraduates of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria participated in this cross-sectional study. Data on smartphone usage and 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal pain were collected using Smartphone Usage Questionnaire and Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire respectively. A plumb line was used to assess the postural analysis of the participating students and the postural abnormalities discovered were recorded using a postural analysis grid. A picture test consisting of six faulty and six good postures were used to assess the postures assumed by students during smartphone use. Data were analyzed with Kendall tau's b, Eta, Phi, and Cramer's v tests with alpha level set at 0.05. The 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal pain affecting the back, neck, shoulder, and wrist were 63.5%, 48.3%, 32.6%, and 24.1% respectively. More females reported a higher proportion of neck (39.5% and 57%), back (56.5% and 70.5%), shoulder (27% and 38%), and wrist (24 and 24.5%) pain in the last 12 months. The rates of postural abnormalities affecting head, shoulders, knees, and feet alignments were 17.5%, 29%, 18.5%, and 34.2% respectively. 73.5% of the participants used their smartphones between 0 to 10 hours on a typical day for reading/studying (100%), phone calls (100%), texting/chatting (99.8%), and accessing the internet (99.8%). There was a significant relationship between duration of browsing the internet (p = 0.019) and 12-month prevalence of low back pain. There was a significant relationship between the duration of reading/studying (p = 0.021) and the 12-month prevalence of neck pain among undergraduate students. There were significant relationships between the 12-month prevalence of neck pain and faulty postures 1 (sitting), 2 (lying with head unsupported), 3 (standing), and 4 (side-lying) (p = 0.007, 0.002, 0.014, 0.039, respectively). There were significant relationships among the 12-month prevalence of knee pain, ankle/feet pain, and faulty posture 2 (p = 0.011 and p = 0.049 respectively). There was a significant relationship between the 12-month prevalence of low back pain and faulty posture 4 (p = 0.019). There were no significant relationships between each of the postural abnormalities and smartphone usage (all p > 0.05). Neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, and back pain were more common in smartphone using digital natives with a greater proportion of females affected. Most digital natives adopted more faulty postures that predispose them to musculoskeletal pain. Thus inviting the need for, education on postural hygiene and ergonomics among smartphone phone using undergraduates