Prevalence of text neck posture, smartphone addiction, and its association with neck disorders among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mohamed Sherif Sirajudeen; Msaad Alzhrani; Ahmad Alanazi; Mazen Alqahtani; Mohamed Waly; Radhakrishnan Unnikrishnan; Hariraja Muthusamy; Wafa Alrubaia; Nidaa Alanazi; Mohamed K Seyam; Faizan Kashoo; Mohammad Miraj; Shashikumar Channmgere Govindappa; Khalid Ahmed Alghamdi; Nasser M Al-Hussinan

doi:10.7717/peerj.14443

Prevalence of text neck posture, smartphone addiction, and its association with neck disorders among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic

PeerJ. 2022 Dec 15:10:e14443. doi: 10.7717/peerj.14443. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mohamed Sherif Sirajudeen¹, Msaad Alzhrani¹, Ahmad Alanazi¹, Mazen Alqahtani¹, Mohamed Waly², Radhakrishnan Unnikrishnan¹, Hariraja Muthusamy¹, Wafa Alrubaia¹, Nidaa Alanazi¹, Mohamed K Seyam¹, Faizan Kashoo¹, Mohammad Miraj¹, Shashikumar Channmgere Govindappa³, Khalid Ahmed Alghamdi⁴, Nasser M Al-Hussinan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy and Health Rehabilitation, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Medical Equipment Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hail, Hail, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Physiotherapy, King Khalid General Hospital, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physiotherapy, Hawtah Sudair Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The smartphone emerges as an inevitable gadget in modern society and its increased usage results in neck disorders among its users. However, the factors associated with neck disorders among smartphone users are ambiguous and less explored in the literature. The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of text neck posture, smartphone addiction/overuse, and its association with neck disorders among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 313 university students who were aged 18 years and older, owned a smartphone, and used it during the preceding 12 months participated in this cross-sectional study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the prevalence of text neck posture, smartphone addiction/overuse, neck disorders, and the level of physical activity. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the association between the prevalence of neck disorders and text neck posture, smartphone addiction/overuse, and level of physical activity. The 12 months prevalence of neck disorders due to smartphone use among the participants was found to be 46%. The neck disorders were more prevalent among participants who reported text neck posture (P < 0.001) and categorized as smartphone-addicted/overuse (P < 0.001). Measures to promote the awareness of healthy use of smartphones including postural education and to decrease its screen time are warranted to reduce neck disorders.

Keywords: Neck pain; Physical activity; Saudi Arabia; Smartphone addiction; Text neck; University students.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Internet Addiction Disorder*
Pandemics
Posture
Prevalence
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology
Students
Universities

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the deputyship of Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia through the project number (IFP – 2020-24). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.