Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports

Case ReportVolume 4 Issue 3

Association of Neck Disability and Forward Head Posture in University Students with Smartphone Addiction

Sukriti Raj1, Rohit Rathore2, Shubhi Kulshrestha3* and Shubham Sharma4

1Lecturer, Physiotherapy Department, PDM University, Bahadurgarh, India
2Assistant Professor, Physiotherapy Department, PDM University, Bahadurgarh, India
3Senior Physiotherapist, AID PLUS Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Clinic, Delhi, India
4Assistant Professor, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

*Corresponding Author: Shubhi Kulshrestha, Senior Physiotherapist, AID PLUS Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Clinic, Delhi, India.

Received: January 6, 2023; Published: February 09, 2023

Abstract

Background: Smartphone usage has increased tremendously among young adults over the past decade and its usage is not limited to phone calls and texting, it is widely used by students for reading eBooks, playing games, navigation etc. This has caused various musculoskeletal complaints among students relating to pain and postural defaults.

Method: University students with neck pain were taken for the study. Participants (n = 88) were assessed for smartphone addiction with smartphone addiction scale short version (SAS-SV), neck disability with neck disability index (NDI) and craniovertebral angle for assessing forward head posture which was done with ‘On Protractor’ application. Two groups were formed, smartphone non-addicted (n = 43) and smartphone addicted(n = 45). Score of NDI and CV angle were compared for both the groups and correlation was found out between smartphone addiction, NDI score and smartphone addiction and CV angle.

Result: A positive correlation (r = 0.42, p = 0.004) was found between smartphone addiction and NDI. No significant correlation (r = 0.08, p = 0.59) was found between craniovertebral angle and smartphone addiction. 14% participants were addicted to smartphone and 50% were having forward head posture (CVA<50o). Using unpaired t-test comparison was made for NDI score in addicted (mean = 24.67, SD = 12.81) and non-addicted group (mean = 12.19, SD = 1.22) and a significant difference was found. For measuring the difference between the CVA in non-addcited and addcited groups unpaired t-test was applied. There was a significant difference in the angles of non-addcited (mean = 50.69, SD = 2.02) and addicted (mean = 48.97, SD = 2.18) groups.

Conclusion: This study shows that smartphone addicted people are more susceptible to have neck disability. The prevalence of smartphone addiction in university students is increasing, which is leading to various musculoskeletal problems and neck joint is affected in many of the students studying at university. Percentage of students with forward head posture has also increased.

Keywords: Neck Disability; Neck Pain; Forward Head Posture; Smartphone Addiction; Musculoskeletal Problems

Bibliography

  1. Schabrun SM., et al. “Texting and walking: strategies for postural control and implications for safety. PloS One (2014): 0084312.
  2. Kim M-S. “Influence of neck pain on cervical movement in the sagittal plane during smartphone use”. Journal of Physical Therapy Science1 (2015): 15-17.
  3. Sema Can and Ayda Karaca. “Determination of musculoskeletal system pain, physical activity intensity, and prolonged sitting of university students using smartphone”. Biomedical Human Kinetics (2019).
  4. Poll H. “Pearson student mobile device survey 2015”. National report: College students (2015).
  5. Lee YS. “Biological model and pharmacotherapy in Internet Addiction”. Journal of the Korean Medical Association3 (2006): 209-214.
  6. Kang JH., et al. “The effect of the forward head posture on postural balance in long time computer based worker”. Annals of Rehabilitation Medicine1 (2012): 98-104.
  7. Szeto GP., et al. “A field comparison of neck and shoulder postures in symptomatic and asymptomatic office workers”. Applied Ergonomics1 (2002): 75-84.
  8. Moore MK. “Upper crossed syndrome and its relationship to cervicogenic headache”. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics6 (2004): 414-420.
  9. Meisingset I., et al. “Evidence for a general stiffening motor control pattern in neck pain: a cross sectional study”. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders1 (2015): 56.
  10. Juul T., et al. “The intra-and inter-rater reliability of five clinical muscle performance tests in patients with and without neck pain”. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders1 (2013): 339.
  11. Kim H J and Kim J S. “The relationship between smartphone use and subjective musculoskeletal symptoms and university students”. Journal of Physical Therapy Science 27 (2015): 575-579.
  12. Kwon M., et al. “The smartphone addiction scale: development and validation of a short version for adolescents”. PloS One12 (2013): e83558.
  13. AlAbdulwahab S S., et al. “Smartphone use addiction can cause neck disability”. Musculoskeletal Care (2017).
  14. Sara Mohamed Sa mir., et al. “The long-term effect of smartphone overuse on Cervical Posture and range of motion in asymptomatic sedentary adults”. Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education and Research (2019).
  15. Mamania JA., et al. “Validity and reliability of’on protractor’smartphone application for measurement of craniovertebral and cranio-horizontal angle”. International Journal of Physiotherapy4 (2017): 207-211.
  16. Alonazi A A., et al. “The effects of smartphone addiction on children’s cervical posture and range of motion”. International Journal of Physiotherapy2 (2019): 32-39.
  17. AlAbdulwahab S., et al. “Smartphone use addiction can cause neck disability”. Musculoskeletal Care Journal1 (2017): 10-12.
  18. Han H and Shin G. “Head flexionangle when web-browsing and texting using a smartphone while walking”. Applied Ergonomics 81 (2019): 102884.
  19. Xie Y., et al. “A comparison of muscle activity in using touchscreen smartphone among young people with and without chronic neck-shoulder pain”. Ergonomics1 (2016): 61-72.

Citation: Shubhi Kulshrestha., et al. “Association of Neck Disability and Forward Head Posture in University Students with Smartphone Addiction". Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports 4.3 (2023): 11-16.

Copyright: © 2022 Shubhi Kulshrestha., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.