SMARTPHONE ADDICTION AND ITS HEALTH IMPACTS AMONG B.SC. (HONS.) NURSING STUDENTS

Introduction: Smartphone overuse is a dependence syndrome seen among certain smartphone users. Some smartphone users exhibit problematic behaviors related to smartphone overuse. Smartphone addiction causes certain health impacts and changes in health. Present studywas conducted to assess the smartphone addiction and its health impacts among the B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing students at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur.

Methodology:Descriptive survey design was used and a total of 148 samples were selected from B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing students of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpurafter considering inclusion and exclusion criteria by total enumeration sampling technique. Data was collected by using self-structured questionnaire on personal variables, Likert scale to assess smartphone addiction and a three-point rating scale on health impacts of smartphone addiction.

Results: On evaluation, 57.43% students were having moderate level of smartphone addiction. Most of the students reported checking their smart phone many times a day even when there was nothing new and checking right after waking up also felt the need to shorten smart phone use time. The commonest health impacts of smart phone addiction were poor concentration,inadequate sleep hours,headacheand tiredness.There was significant association between duration of smart phone use, Self-evaluation of smartphone addiction with the smartphone addiction (P< 0.05).

Conclusion: This study concludes that most of the nursing students has moderate levels of smartphone addiction Hence it is crucial to take necessary measures to manage and prevent smartphone addiction.