Smartphone Use and its Impact on Ocular Health among University Students in Saudi Arabia

Background: People are increasingly using mobile phones rather than fixed telephones. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone and the vast majority of these are smartphone. The patterns of smartphone activities may put a significant number of populations especially students at risk of negative ocular problems. To determine the prevalence, pattern, and impact of smartphone use on ocular health among University students.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted and 760 male and female students were selected from Medical and Pharmacy Colleges by multistage random sampling. A self-administered structured questionnaire including sociodemographic and visual manifestations data was used to collect data. SPSS program version 22 was used to analyze data.

Results: Out of 760 students selected, 546 (71.8%) responded. The overall prevalence of smartphone use was 90.84%. However, the age range for the beginning of smartphone use was 12-18 years old (68.3%). In addition, the daily duration of smartphone use was 4-6 h/day (30.2%). Furthermore, females believed that they use smartphone more than usual compared to males. Moreover, ocular pain and/or dryness after prolonged time spent on smartphone use were more among smartphone users (39.7%). Finally, most of the students (66.0%) had one or more ocular problems after smartphone use.

Conclusions: There is an association between smartphone use and occurrence of ocular manifestations. Health education programs on smartphone use and its ocular hazards are highly recommended.