Farooq Azam Khan, Asfand Waqar, Suhail Niaz Khan Niazi.
Text Neck Syndrome among Students of a Medical and Dental College in Lahore.
J Sharif Med Dent Coll Jan ;6(1):5-8.

Objective: To determine the frequency of text neck syndrome among medical and dental students of Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional survey conducted in Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore. The study was approved by the institutional ethical committee and informed consent was taken from all the participants. A total number of 120 MBBS and BDS students were enrolled in the study by a nonprobability consecutive sampling technique. One hundred students of MBBS, 20 from each class and 20 students of BDS, 5 from each class participated in the study. The participants were asked to complete a structured questionnaire including demographic information (name, age, gender) and duration of mobile phone use, the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Results: Among the 120 participants, mild nomophobia was found in 19(16%), moderate nomophobia in 80(67%) and severe nomophobia in 21(17%) of the students. Fifty students (42%) reported neck pain during prolonged mobile phone use. The NMP-Q has a positive correlation with the NDI, having Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) of 0.41, p<0.001, Conclusion: The prolonged use of mobile phones is associated with a greater frequency of neck pain and a higher NDI score. There is a significant positive correlation between text neck syndrome and mobile phone usage. Initially, the musculoskeletal changes are short term but can cause disabilities in later life if proper care and prevention are not taken. Keywords: Text neck syndrome. Mobile phone. Musculoskeletal pain.

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