Influence of Smartphone Usage on Low Back Pain and/or Shoulder Pain in College Students in a Judo Therapist Training Course: A pilot study

Abstract

The present study aimed to explore the effect of smartphone usage on low back pain (LBP) and shoulder pain (SP) in college students in a judo therapist course. From the course, 126 out of 155 students were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Smartphone usage i.e. frequency, time and application purpose were evaluated using self-reported questionnaires. Clinical characteristics including LBP and SP were also evaluated. The prevalence of LBP and SP was 18 students (14.3%) and 22 students (17.5%) respectively. The usage time of smartphones in students with LBP or SP was significantly longer than in students without LBP or SP after adjustment for confounding factors. The prevalence of game usage in students with LBP was significantly higher than in students without. In addition, 2.5 hours for LBP and 5.0 hours for SP were the thresholds of usage time for smartphone by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Smartphone usage, especially usage time, was closely associated with LBP and SP. Proper usage of smartphones is needed for reducing LBP and SP in college students in the judo therapist course.