Pattern of Smartphone Use Among Clinical Medical Students of Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos

Abstract

Background: Mobile phones are one of the most common information access devices with almost 31% of the global population having access. Mobile phones are now in the hands of 2 billion people out of the 6.47 billion people on this planet. The knowledge on the pattern of use of mobile phones among students will shed more light on the advantages and disadvantages of the use of mobile phones so as to find ways of channeling the usage into being more beneficial and useful to the students. The aim is to determine the pattern of use of smartphones among clinical medical students in Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos. The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study among medical clinical students of BHUTH, Jos. The sampling method was consecutive sampling of all the students until sample size was obtained. A total of 134 questionnaires were distributed and all 134 were duly filled and returned. Results: The analyses of the pattern showed that majority of the students spend more than three hours on their phones per day. The commonest applications in use by the students include; Google play store, word documents and blogging applications. Thirteen (10.2% spends >20 hours) on academic sites, while (6.0% spends > 20hrs) on chatting sites, and (5.7% spends >20hrs) on social networking sites per week. A lot of students put their phone on vibration during lectures and there is a gender difference in the use of mobile phone. About one third of the students use their phones at night and most agreed that it is a form of distraction. The study concludes by recommending seminars on the appropriate use of mobile phone in the university.

Awareness and Knowledge Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals Among University Students

“…While, based on the questions on knowledge about SDGs, we found that few students still lacked knowledge on basic information of SDGs such as the year it was launched, few agendas of SDGs and the organization which launched SDGs. However, the student knowledge result in this study is higher than the study from Shehu et al (2018) among clinical medical students and Omisore et al (2017) among University Community in Nigeria possibly because of the socio-demographic condition between the study area.…”

“…It showed that female students had higher awareness such as 5.5% than male students. The previous studies by Shehu et al (2018) and Omisore et al (2017), differently, found with their female respondents being less aware of SDGs compared to the males. The different socio-demographic grounds and cultural expectations of gender roles might cause this inversed findings.…”

“…Similarly, people who are well-informed through personal study of the SDGs or other means or academic staff are those who have a good knowledge of SDGs. A survey for 171 respondents shows a total of 141 (82.46%) were aware of SDGs and 140 (81.87%) got the full meaning of SDGs correctly (Shehu, Shehu, & Ode, 2018). The framework and roadmap carried in the SDGs can be integrated into a comprehensive area of initiatives, including pedagogy and learning, academic research, campus management, practices, and impact as an organization (Décamps, Barbat, Carteron, Hands, & Parkes, 2017).…”