Investigation of the relationship between Sakarya University students' levels of smartphone use and quality of life

INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SAKARYA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' LEVELS OF SMARTPHONE USE AND QUALITY OF LIFE INTRODUCTION AND AIM: The rapid increase in the use of smartphones brings along addiction and their problematic use. Researches highlighted the negative impact of smartphone use on health, however its relationship with quality of life have not been fully revealed. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the relationship between the quality of life and smart phone addiction among the university students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted between March 2018 and May 2018 on 507 university students studying at Sakarya University. A personal information form which was prepared for the purpose of questioning sociodemographic characteristics, "Smart Phone Addiction Scale" to measure levels of smartphone use and "WHOQOL-BREF TR Quality of Life Scale" to measure the quality of life were used. The relationship between the scores of the students on each scale was evaluated statistically. RESULTS: The study included 267 (52.7%) females and 240 (47.3%) males with a total of 507 people. In the assessment of students' characteristics of smartphone usage, it was determined that women compared to men, people with higher monthly expenses and people at younger ages had higher levels of smartphone addiction. When we evaluate the effect of smartphone use on quality of life, it was observed that the quality of life of those with higher addiction level had lower scores on physical, psychological, environmental health and social relations subgroups. CONCLUSION: Besides the daily life-facilitating effects of smartphones, it can be seen that the overuse of smartphones may have negative effects on quality of life. We believe that more comprehensive and long-term studies should be carried out on this subject. KEY WORDS: Level of Smartphone Use, University Students, The Quality of Life