Skeletal Muscle Symptoms in Students of Health Majors with Dependence on Mobile Devices: An Observational Descriptive Study

Abstract

In the world, there are more mobile phone lines than people. These numbers have been increasing, especially in university students, due to the academic and social demands of a globalized and interconnected world in social networks, raising concerns about the health effects of mobile device overuse. The goal of this study was to establish the relationship between musculoskeletal symptoms in students at the health department of an institution of higher education and their dependence on mobile devices. An observational, descriptive study in which 334 interviews were presented, of which 244 were selected, corresponding to students with dependence on mobile devices. We find most symptoms in the neck (56.3%), followed by the dorsal region with (49.4%), wrist (42.6%), shoulder (33.9%), and elbow (9.6%). Study correlations were low for the back (Rho: 0.274) and wrist (Rho: 0.200) and very low for the neck (Rho: 0.171) and shoulder (Rho: 0.142). The presence of musculoskeletal symptoms, mainly in the neck, back, and wrist in university students with dependence on mobile devices belonging to the health department associated with academic programs in phonoaudiology, physiotherapy, and medicine, is common; however, the correlation was found to be low between dependency level and pain in the back and wrist and very low between dependency level and pain in the neck. Our results suggest that university wellness programs should focus on the neck, dorsal region of the back, wrist, and shoulder and that contrary to what was previously thought, there is a low correlation between dependence on cell phone use and musculoskeletal symptoms.

Keywords

• musculoskeletal symptoms
• dependency
• mobile device