Prevalence, Position, and Duration of Digital Gadgets and (Neck Pain and Disability) Text Neck Syndrome among Postgraduate Students
Background and Aims: Text neck syndrome is characterized as an overuse syndrome or repetitive stress injury, involving the positioning of the head in a forward or downward manner while focusing on a mobile device or any other electronic gadget for extended durations. Consequently, this leads to the...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Archives of Medicine and Health Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/amhs.amhs_296_24 |
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| Summary: | Background and Aims:
Text neck syndrome is characterized as an overuse syndrome or repetitive stress injury, involving the positioning of the head in a forward or downward manner while focusing on a mobile device or any other electronic gadget for extended durations. Consequently, this leads to the tightening of shoulder muscles, discomfort in neck muscles, and possibly even persistent headaches. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of text neck syndrome among the young adult population by utilizing the Neck Disability Index (NDI) questionnaire.
Materials and Methods:
An analysis conducted cross-sectional study included 371 postgraduate students aged between 18 and 25 years from various academic departments at Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Demographic profiles were compiled from the participants, who were then tasked with completing the NDI questionnaire. Subsequently, the collected data were scrutinized to explore the correlation between neck pain and neck posture during mobile phone usage.
Results:
The results indicated that females demonstrated a higher vulnerability, primarily adopting a 30° neck flexed posture while using their smartphones for an average of 4 h daily. Moreover, the age bracket most impacted was identified as 22 years.
Conclusion:
The investigation ultimately determined that the prevalence rate of text neck syndrome stands at 31.5%. 42% had mild disability and 18% had moderate disability, 5% had severe disability. It was also found that increased hours of smartphone usage leads to increased neck disability, with 1–2 h reporting lesser pain and more than 5 h of mobile phone usage leads to higher reporting of neck disability. The study also found that increased neck flexion position while using their smartphone usage leads to increased neck disability, with 15° of neck flexion causing less pain and 60° of neck flexion leads to higher reporting of neck disability. |
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| ISSN: | 2321-4848 2321-6085 |