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Problematic Smartphone Use: Prevalence and Associated Factors Among Health Sciences Students in Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

Excessive smartphone use leads to several physical and psychological disorders, particularly among young adults. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the associated factors of problematic smartphone use (PSU) among health sciences students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During the 2019 academic year, a cross-sectional analytic study randomly recruited 408 health sciences students (67.5% were females), with a mean age of 20.5 ± 1.42. Data on sociodemographic and health profiles, smartphone usage patterns, and overuse symptoms were collected for each participant. The Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version (SAS-SV) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale were used to assess PSU and anxiety levels. PSU was detected in 66.9% of the study participants. The prevalence is high among both females and males (69.5 and 61.7%, respectively). PSU was found to be associated with more years of use and frequent smartphone upgrading (aOR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.12, 3.97) and (aOR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.65), respectively (p = 0.021 and 0.021, respectively). Participants with moderate and severe anxiety levels were found to be more likely to have PSU (aOR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.21, 4.05) and (aOR = 5.97, 95% CI: 2.41, 14.78), respectively. (p = 0.010 and < 0.001, respectively). PSU is an emerging problem among health sciences students in Saudi Arabia with a high prevalence in both genders. Longer years of use, more frequent smartphone upgrades, and higher anxiety levels are associated with PSU among health sciences students. Special health education and psychological support programs are recommended to guide and support future healthcare providers against the consequences of PSU.

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Funding

The authors declare that this research did not receive any funds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tanta, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Ehab A. Abo-Ali

  2. Community Medicine Department, Medicine Program, Batterjee Health Sciences College, Jeddah, 21442, Saudi Arabia

    Ehab A. Abo-Ali

  3. Final Year Student, Medicine Program, Batterjee Health Sciences College, Jeddah, 21442, Saudi Arabia

    Amal Al-Ghanmi, Hajar Hadad, Jumanah Etaiwi, Kainat Bhutta & Najlaa Hadad

  4. Family and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Albaha University, Albaha, 65779, Saudi Arabia

    Abdullah Almilaibary

  5. Neuro-Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tanta, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    Wesssam A. Ghareeb & Ashraf Sanad

  6. Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of South Valley, Qena, Egypt

    Sameh Zaytoun

Authors
  1. Ehab A. Abo-Ali
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  2. Amal Al-Ghanmi
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  3. Hajar Hadad
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  4. Jumanah Etaiwi
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  9. Ashraf Sanad
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  10. Sameh Zaytoun
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Correspondence to Ehab A. Abo-Ali.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests related to this research.

Ethical considerations

This research was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Approvals with a reference code (UB-RES-2019-0017) from the Scientific and Ethics Committees of Batterjee Health Sciences College were obtained before conducting the study. The aim of the study was explained to all participants. Informed consents were obtained from all participants; for electronic submission, ‘‘Agree to participate’’ statement was a precondition for proceeding in the questionnaire, and for paper submissions, informed written consents were obtained prior responding to the questionnaire. Data were collected anonymously and confidentiality of data was guaranteed.

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Co-author Hajar Hadad passed away on 15 June, 2020.

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Abo-Ali, E.A., Al-Ghanmi, A., Hadad, H. et al. Problematic Smartphone Use: Prevalence and Associated Factors Among Health Sciences Students in Saudi Arabia. J of Prevention 43, 659–671 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00692-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-022-00692-1

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