Investigation of the relationship between smart phone use in healthy individuals and pain, emotion, sleep, quality of life and physical activity

With the development of technology and the increasing importance of communication, smart phones, which can perform many functions that a computer can do, have become an indispensable part of our lives. In case of unconscious and excessive use, it can cause physical and mental problems. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between smartphone use and pain, mood, sleep, quality of life and physical activity in healthy individuals. 308 healthy individuals using smartphones were included in the study. Sociodemographic information of individuals was evaluated with a personal information form. Smartphone use with the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form (SAS-SF), pain levels with Visual Analog Scale (VAS), sleep quality with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), depression levels with Beck Depression Index (BDI), neck functional states with Neck Disability Index (NDI), low back functional status with Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), quality of life with Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) physical activity levels were also evaluated. Data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 program and p < 0.05 was considered significant in statistical analysis. According to the results of the analysis of the data, there was a significant positive correlation between SAS-SF and PSQI, BDI, NDI, ODI and neck pain (VAS); A significant negative correlation was also found with SF-36, IPAQ-SF (p<0.05). No significant relationship was found between SAS-SF and low back pain (VAS) (p>0.05). As a result, while the quality of life, sleep quality and physical activity level decreased in case of excessive use of the smartphone, it was observed that depression levels, neck pain, and waist and neck disability levels increased. We believe that awareness raising studies should be carried out on the use of smart phones.