Smart Phone Use and its Effect on Cognition: A Cross-sectional Study in Undergraduate Medical Students
Introduction: Mobile smartphones have become an integral part of everyone’s life. However, concerns have been raised about the various health hazards associated with their use. The presence of smartphones among students reduces their attention span and acts as a distraction in their classes, which c...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/20899/74471_CE[Ra1]_F(IS)_QC_PF1(HJ_IS)_PFA(IS)_PB(Pr_IS)_PN(IS).pdf |
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| Summary: | Introduction: Mobile smartphones have become an integral part of everyone’s life. However, concerns have been raised about the various health hazards associated with their use. The presence of smartphones among students reduces their attention span and acts as a distraction in their classes, which could lead to poor academic performance. Medical students, being an important element of society, need to be made aware of the health hazards of excessive smartphone use so that they can spread awareness among others, especially adolescents.
Aim: This study aims to investigate the effect of smartphone use on academic performance and to associate the behavioural aspects of smartphone use with cognitive impairment in medical students.
Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Physiology Department at Dr. DY Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, India, among first MBBS students from March to April 2024. Institute ethics committee clearance was obtained, and written informed consent was acquired from each participant. Participants were selected based on inclusion criteria that included a willingness to participate and a willingness to complete the questionnaire. They were provided with a validated questionnaire that included their personal details, followed by questions related to various aspects of mobile phone use. Their performance was assessed based on the marks (out of 100) in the Physiology theory paper of the first internal assessment examination. Out of a total of 250 first MBBS students, 72 were present on the day of the study. Out of these, eight were unwilling to participate, resulting in a total of 64 participants. The data was tabulated in an Excel sheet, and analysis was performed using SPSS 23. For analysis, participants were divided into three groups based on their theory marks (less than 50, 50-60, and 61 to 80). A chi-square test was used to find the association between theory marks and mobile phone use, with a p-value of less than 0.05 considered significant.
Results: Eighteen students (28.12%) scored less than 50%, 26 students (40.62%) scored between 50% and 60%, while 20 students (31.25%) scored above 60%. Forty students (62.5%) use either glasses or contact lenses. Twenty-nine students (45.31%) started using mobile phones before 10th standard, 30 students (46.87%) began in 10th to 12th standard, and 5 students (7.81%) started after 12th. Thirty-five students (54.68%) use only 1-2 social media platforms, 27 students (42.18%) use 3-4, and only 2 students (3.12%) use more than 4. Eleven students (17.1%) use mobile phones for less than two hours daily, 37 students (57.81%) use them for 2-4 hours daily, and 16 students (25%) spend more than four hours on them. A total of 32 students, or 50%, use mobile phones just before going to sleep. Twenty-one students (32.81%) admitted that they use their mobiles as soon as they wake up in the morning. More than 50% of students use mobile phones or other electronic gadgets for studying and use them frequently between classes. Overall, mobile phone usage was reported to be higher among students who scored up to 60% compared to those who scored above 60%, although this difference was not statistically significant (p-value >0.05). Statistically, mobile phone use has not affected the academic performance of the students who scored less than 60%.
Conclusion: Since the results of this study are not statistically significant, it can be concluded that mobile phone use has not affected the academic performance of undergraduate medical students. Future studies with a larger sample size and conducted across other professional year MBBS students can provide further insights. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |