A study on the prevalence of nomophobia and its associated factors among the medical students of a medical college in central Kerala
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20231707Keywords:
Insomnia, Medical students, Mobile phones, NomophobiaAbstract
Background: Nomophobia is considered as the disorder of the 21st century. It can have various consequences on mental health, affecting work and school performance and generating little social interaction outside of the virtual one. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of nomophobia among medical students.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 294 students of a medical college of Kerala during the period December 2022-February 2023. The prevalence of nomophobia was assessed using the nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q). Severity of insomnia was assessed using Insomnia index questionnaire.
Results: The prevalence of nomophobia among the participants was 99.6%. The grades of nomophobia showed no significant association between gender, age, year of study, average screen time and severity of insomnia.
Conclusions: The high prevalence of nomophobia addresses the need for an urgent intervention.
References
King AL, Valença AM, Nardi AE. Nomophobia: The mobile phone in panic disorder with agoraphobia: Reducing phobias or worsening of dependence? Cogn Behav Neurol. 2010;23:52-4.
IJIP. In. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 3, Issue 4, No. 82. RED’SHINE Publication. Inc; 2016. 213 p.
Bragazzi NL, Del Puente G. A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V. Psychol Res Behav Manage. 2014;7:155.
Uysal Ş, Özen H, Madenoğlu C. Social phobia in higher education: the influence of nomophobia on social phobia. Global e-learn J. 2016;5(2):1-8.
Chico AI, Maldonado DL, Moreno GL. Nomophobia: Disorder of the 21st century. Semergen. 2018;44:117-8.
Ding D, Li J. Smartphone overuse- a growing public health issue. J Psychol Psychother. 2017;7:289.
Aguilera-Manrique G, Márquez-Hernández VV, Alcaraz-Córdoba T, Granados-Gámez G, Gutiérrez-Puertas V, Gutiérrez-Puertas L. The relationship between nomophobia and the distraction associated with smartphone use among nursing students in their clinical practicum. PLoS One. 2018;13:e0202953.
Yavuz M, Altan B, Bayrak B, Gündüz M, Bolat N. The relationships between nomophobia, alexithymia and metacognitive problems in an adolescent population. Turk J Pediatr. 2019;61:345.
Akbaş Güneş N., Gücük S. The relationship between nomophobia levels and academic successes in medical faculty students. Turk J Fam Med Prim Care. 2020;14:396-402.
Ayar D, Özalp Gerçeker G, Özdemir EZ, Bektaş M. The effect of problematic internet use, social appearance anxiety, and social media use on nursing students’ nomophobia levels. CIN Comput Inform Nurs. 2018;36:589-95.
Fiorinelli M, Di Mario S, Surace A, Mattei M, Russo C, Villa G, et al. Smartphone distraction during nursing care: systematic literature review. Appl Nurs Res. 2021;58:151405.
Madhusudan M, Sudarshan BP, Sanjay TV, Gopi A, Fernandes SDA. Nomophobia and determinants among the students of a medical college in Kerala. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2017;6(6):1046-9.
Bartwal J, Nath B. Evaluation of nomophobia among medical students using smartphone in north India. Med J Armed Forces India. 2020;76(4):451-5.
Mengi A, Singh A, Gupta V. An institution-based study to assess the prevalence of Nomophobia and its related impact among medical students in Southern Haryana, India. J Fam Med Prim Care. 2020;9(5):2303-8.
Yildirim C, Correia AP. Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire. Comput Human Behav. 2015;49:130-7.
Bastien CH, Vallières A, Morin CM. Validation of the Insomnia Severity Index as an outcome measure for insomnia research. Sleep Med. 2001;2:297-307.
Sethia S, Melwani V, Melwani S, Priya A, Gupta M, Khan A. A study to assess the degree of nomophobia among the undergraduate students of a medical college in Bhopal. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2018;5(6):2442-5.
Veerapu N, Baer Philip RK, Vasireddy H, Gurrala S, Kanna SR. A study on nomophobia and its correlation with sleeping difficulty and anxiety among medical students in a medical college, Telangana. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2019;6(5):2074-6.
Farooqui IA, Pore P, Gothankar J. Nomophobia: An emerging issue in medical institutions? J Ment Health. 2018;27(5):438-41.
Harish BR, Bharath J. Prevalence of nomophobia among the undergraduate medical students of Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2018;5(12):5455-9
Haruka T, Nishida T, Tsuji A, Sakakibara H. Association between excessive use of mobile phone and insomnia and depression among Japanese adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017:14(7):1-11.
