ABSTRACT

Objective: With recent advancement in technology, generation Z has become addicted to gadgets, particularly smartphones. The fear of being separated from mobile phones, is known as Nomophobia. The aim of our study was to ascertain whether nomophobia and/or problematic mobile phone use has any influence on decision-making of undergraduate dental students.

Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on dental students of Pakistan. The level of nomophobia was determined using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), Mobile Phone Problematic Use Scale (MP-PU), and the decision-making skills of dental students was determined using the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDM-Q).

Results: The mean score of the NMP-Q was 102.49 ± 11.07, and the mean score of MP-PU Scale was 83.45 ± 17.82. Positive correlation was present between the measure of mobile phone problematic use scale and nomophobia. Similarly, positive correlations were discovered between nomophobia and the measure of buck-passing, procrastination and hypervigilance in regard to decision-making. As for the MDM-Q scale, the procrastination measure had a high correlation with the decision-making value.

Conclusion: The results of our study suggest an increasing prevalence of nomophobia among dental students of Pakistan.

Keywords: Smartphone; Nomophobia, Decision making, Dental student