ABSTRACT

Aim: To observe the number of times the medical students use smart phones and find its correlation with their ocular, systemic and behavioral changes..

Methods: This study was conducted jointly at Ophthalmology and medicine departments in Pakistan Red Crescent medical and dental college w.e.f. January 2020 to December 2020. Students who were willing to participate in the study were enrolled. The students willing for study were given proformas to be filled by themselves .After words , each of them underwent complete ocular medical and psychological examination ..

Results: Out of120 students, 20(16.7%) were male and 100 (83.3%) were female. Mean age of students taking part in study was 20.8 years (Range 18-24 ±1.61).Each participant on average dialed/received 2.73 calls per day (Range 0-7 ±0.18).Mean number of SMS sent/ received was 76.37(Range 2- 300 ±85.34).Mean age of starting use of smart phone 16.7 years (Range 12-19±1.48).Mean time spent by participants per day on smart phone was 4.63 hours (Range 0.5-12±2.61). Regarding ocular manifestations eye strain was present in 67 (55.83%) participants, redness in 89(77.5%), irritation in 48(40%), watering in 52(43.3%), photophobia in 15(12.5%) and blurred vision in 16(13.3%). Thirty students complained that they were in habit of squeezing eyes. Regarding physical manifestations headache was present in 83(69.17%), neck and shoulder pain in 68(56.7%), backache in 64(53.3%), text claw in 52(44.17%) and hearing problems in 28(23.3%). Fifty students complained of weight gain due to use of smart phones. Regarding psychological manifestations 69(57.5%) complained that they had serious addiction of smart phones. Memory loss was present in 60 (50%) of them, anxiety/depression in 67(55.83%), sleep disorders in 61(50.83%) and attention deficit in 80(66.7%).

Conclusions: the results show many health hazards in medical students and these hazards increase with increase in time the students use these devices. Students should not use these devices for longer times to avoid health problems.