“Prevalence of Nomophobia and Use

of Social Networking Sites and Apps”

A cross sectional study among
undergraduate medical students in
Santhiram Medical College, Nandyal

Dr. Ganesam Krishna Kumari ,

Final year Postgraduate,
Department of Community Medicine, SRMC, Nandyal
 INTRODUCTION
• Nomophobia is defined as the discomfort or anxiety
caused by non-availability of mobile phone and its
excessive usage.

• Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have

become an indispensable part of our lives.

• With the proliferation of inexpensive mobile devices, we

are now living in a mobile age in which mobile ICTs are
vigorously and quickly adopted.

• It is considered as a modern age phobia.

 AIMS & OBJECTIVES

• To study the Prevalence of nomophobia among

undergraduate medical students in SRMC, Nandyal.

• To study the usage of social networking sites and

apps.

• To study the Effects of ‘nomophobia’ on health & life

style.
 Materials and Methods

study design Cross - sectional study

Undergraduate medical students present
Inclusion criteria
in the class during the survey
Undergraduate medical students who
Exclusion criteria were not present in the class during the
survey.
Study area Santhiram Medical College, Nandyal.
16th September 2018 – 15th November
Study period
2018
Sample size 337
Study tool A pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire
Statistical software SPSS ver 22
Ethical clearance obtained
RESULTS
 AGE

In our study the mean age of participants was 21 years

SEX DISTRIBUTION

Female
51 %
Male
49 %
 USAGE OF SMART PHONE

No smart
phone
3.3%

Smart phone
96.7%
Access to data plan (n=326)

No data
plan
3%

Data Plan
97%
 Time (per day) spent
using smart phone

TIME PERCENTAGE
< 1 hour 10.7 %
1 – 3 hours 25.5 %
3 – 5 hours 26.8 %
> 5 hours 37.0 %
 Average hours spent on
commonly used apps/sites

60 54.1%
48.2%
50
40.2%
40 32.5%
29.2%30.6% 26.1% 29.3%
30
19.8%
20
10
0
Messenger apps Social networking sites Entertaining apps (you
(whats app, hike, (facebook, twitter, tube, gaming apps,
telegram) instagram) online shopping)
<2 hrs 2 - 3 hrs >3 hrs
 SEVERITY OF NOMOPHOBIA
No Mild
nomophobia, Nomophobia,
8.2% 17.1%
Severe
Nomophobia,
15.4%

Moderate
Nomophobia,
59.3%

• No Nomophobia = 0-20 Moderate = 61-100

• Mild = 21-60 Severe = >100
 SYMPTOMS OF NOMOPHOBIA

60.9%
48.1%
40.2%

16.9% 11.2%
3.3%
FROM MYOPIA TO NOMOPHOBIA
 Pattern of usage of
most popular social networking sites & apps
Pattern of usage of most Messenger apps Social networking Entertaining
popular social networking apps/sites apps/sites
sites & apps

Spent a lot of time thinking 42.1 % 40.1 % 39.2 %

about it
Felt an urge to use it more 38.3 % 48.8 % 40.2 %
and more
Used it in order to forget 40.6 % 32.1 % 49.4 %
personal problems
Tried to cut down on its use 26.8 % 33.4 % 44.3 %
with out success
Become restless or trouble 36.4 % 42.5 % 28.4 %
if they have been prohibited
from using it

Used it so much that it had 34.3 % 36.6 % 46.9 %

negative impact on studies
 EFFECT OF INTERNET ON HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
S. No Parameters Percentage
Feel that Social media brought them closer to their family
1. 82.6 %
and friends

Experienced redness/dryness of eyes because of the

2. 16.9 %
prolonged screen exposure of the smart phones

Need more than half-an-hour for falling asleep due to

3. 35.5 %
night use of smart phone
Forwarded health related information on social media
4. 38.8 %
without verifying the facts

5. Face book friends whom they have never met in person 62.7 %

Feel that the use of social media makes them study/work

6. 69.8 %
less than they would have, without access to these sites

Feel that they have less time for productive work due to
7. 49.7 %
smart phone
• Prevalence of nomophobia is increasing now a days.
• The increased usage of smart phones is affecting the
health, life style and academic performance of
students
• It needs urgent intervention among students by
behaviour change communication in groups and
personal counselling regarding unnecessary use of
smart phones and internet.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

• Educate the students regarding the harmful effects of

excessive usage of mobile phones on health
• Watchful eye should be there by the teaching faculty on
student performance
• Time limit should be there for usage of internet
 Nomophobia Questionnaire
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement in Strongly strongly
relation to your smartphone. Disagree agree

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 I would feel uncomfortable without constant access to information
through my smartphone
2 I would be annoyed if I could not look information up on my smartphone
when I wanted to do so.
3 Being unable to get the news (e.g., happenings, weather, etc.) on my
smartphone would make me nervous
4 I would be annoyed if I could not use my smartphone and/or its
capabilities when I wanted to do so
5 Running out of battery in my smartphone would scare me
6 If I were to run out of credits or hit my monthly data limit, I would panic.

7 If i didnot have a data signal or could not connect to Wi-Fi, then I would
constantly check to see if I had a signal or could find a Wi-Fi network

8 If i could not use my smartphone, I would be afraid of getting stranded

somewhere
9 If i could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to
check it
If I did not have my smart phone with me,
10 I would feel anxious because I could not instantly communicate with my
family and/or friends

11 I would be worried because my family and/or friends could not reach me.

12 I would feel nervous because I would not be able to receive text messages
and calls

13 would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and/or
friends

14 I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a
hold of me

15 I would feel anxious because my constant connection to my family and

friends would be broken.

16 I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online

identity

17 I would be uncomfortable because I could not stay up-to-date with social

media and online networks

18 I would feel awkward because I could not check my notifications for

updates from my connections and online networks

19 I would feel anxious because I could not check my email messages

20 I would feel weird because I would not know what to do.
 REFERENCES
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THANK YOU