Evaluation of the Levels of Nomophobia and Academic Stress among Medical Students

Abstract

Background: Technology has been intruding into human’s daily life so much that most of us would develop dependence on it and so, smartphone is not exclusion. There has been increase in the usage of smartphone especially among student population for various reasons, which could foster addictive behaviors. Medical students are vulnerable population for such addictive behaviors probably due to tremendous academic pressure, where they find smartphone usage as way of escape & ease to relieve from ongoing stressful situations and so on. Objective: To determine the smartphone usage pattern, nomophobia and correlation of nomophobia with academic stress among medical students. Material and Methods: Second year & third year medical students were considered as subjects. Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) and Academic Stress Inventory (ASI) were administered. Results: Almost all the students in the study group had nomophobia but at different levels which includes Mild (24.7%), Moderate (65.8%) and Severe (9.3%) and slightly higher among female students. All the domains of the academic stress inventory showed statistically significant association with nomophobia i.e. there is a positive correlation between nomophobia and academic stress among medical students. Conclusion: Apart from various stresses which a medical student undergo, academic stress seems to be an important factor  which could have great influence on Nomophobia [No-Mobile-Phobia] and can influence smartphone addiction. This study emphasizes the need for early interventions required to address the medical students in effectively managing their stress and reduce the chances of mobile phone addiction.