PROBLEMATIC USE OF SMARTPHONE AND NOMOPHOBIA AMONG MEDICAL AND NURSING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF A TERTIARY CARE REFERRAL HOSPITAL IN INDIA AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH QUALITY OF LIFE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY.

Background: Overuse of smartphone amongst today's young generation has assumed an epidemic proportion. Assessment of severity of Nomophobia and Smartphone use related problems is important as it can help to ascertain the current adverse consequences of Smartphone problematic use. The study aims to assess the association between smartphone dependence, nomophobia and quality of life in undergraduate medical and nursing students in a tertiary care referral hospital cum medical institution in India.

Subjects And Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 437 medical and nursing undergraduate students, which involved assessing their dependence for smartphone and nomophobia using the Test for Mobile Phone dependence (TMD) questionnaire brief version and Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) respectively.

Results: The average hours spent on smartphone per day for the study population was 3.2 hours. Smartphone dependence was found in 12% of study participants. Nearly 50% in each batch had moderate degree of nomophobia and around 13-15% had severe nomophobia. Both smartphone dependence and nomophobia were significantly associated with each other and had significant associations with poorer quality of life in the medical and nursing students. Preclinical medical students scored higher in all the domains of Smartphone dependence and nomophobia questionnaire and were associated with poor quality of life compared to other batches.

Conclusion: Excessive smartphone use is associated with poorer quality of life in medical and nursing students. More studies in future are required that will involve various age groups and other educational streams which willadd up to the existing knowledge on technology addiction.