Smartphone Use and Addiction among Pharmacy Students in Northern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study

Dujrudee Chinwong; Pattarapan Sukwuttichai; Natthachai Jaiwong; Chalermpong Saenjum; Nuntaporn Klinjun; Surarong Chinwong

doi:10.3390/healthcare11091264

Smartphone Use and Addiction among Pharmacy Students in Northern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study

Healthcare (Basel). 2023 Apr 28;11(9):1264. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11091264.

Authors

Dujrudee Chinwong^{1

2}, Pattarapan Sukwuttichai¹, Natthachai Jaiwong¹, Chalermpong Saenjum^{2

3}, Nuntaporn Klinjun⁴, Surarong Chinwong^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Care, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
² Center of Excellence for Innovation in Analytical Science and Technology for Biodiversity-Based Economic and Society (I-ANALY-S-T_B.BES-CMU), Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
³ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁴ Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla 90110, Thailand.
⁵ Community Pharmacy Foundation, Volunteer Pharmacist Provide Smoking Cessation and Health Promotion, and Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Abstract

In Thailand and worldwide, smartphone addiction among university students is a growing concern. This study aims to investigate behaviors of smartphone use, the prevalence of smartphone addiction, the duration of smartphone use, and their associated factors among pharmacy students at a university in northern Thailand. This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online self-administered questionnaire to collect data from January to February 2021. Smartphone addiction was measured using the Smartphone Addiction Scale: Thai Short Version (SAS-SV-TH). Of 281 students (70% female, average age of 21.1 (2.0), year 1 to 5), 87% used smartphones and tablets. Their average time spent on a smartphone was 7.5 (±3.1) hours daily on weekdays and 8.1 (±3.1) on weekends. The top three reasons for using smartphones were social networking (92.9%), education (90.3%) and entertainment (89.6%). Health-related problems associated with smartphone use were insomnia (51.3%), anxiety (41.3%), headache (38.8%) and stress (38.4%). The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 49% (95% CI: 44-55%); the associated factor comprised time spent on smartphones (>5 h/day). The prevalence of spending more than five hours daily on smartphones was 75% (95% CI: 70-80%) during weekdays and 81% (95% CI: 77-86%) during weekends; associated factors for during weekdays included a monthly smartphone bill of more than 500 THB (adjusted odds ratio: 4.30 (95% CI: 2.00-9.24) and for senior students (adjusted OR: 3.31 (95% CI: 1.77-6.19). The results remained the same for the weekend. In short, the results show that half of the pharmacy students were addicted to their smartphone; time spent on smartphones (>5 h/day) was associated with addiction. Therefore, university students should be encouraged to adopt healthy habits for smartphone use (such as limiting screen time and maintaining good posture while using a smartphone or tablet) and to increase their awareness of health-related problems.

Keywords: Thailand; duration use of smartphone; pharmacy students; smartphone addiction.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.