Smartphone Usage and Pattern on Self-reported Symptoms Among Medical Students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Background Smartphone ubiquitous has become profound especially during 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) lockdown period. It is worth considering the influence on users’ health symptoms, which extend beyond the realm of communication. Prior research suggests smartphone’s usage and pattern correlated with self-reported symptoms from different countries. Hence, this research aimed to evaluate the smartphone usage and pattern, also its association on self-reported symptoms among medical students in Malaysia, which occurred during COVID-19 lockdown implementation. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, with 252 medical students enrolled in the study at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) using proportionate stratified random sampling. Sociodemographic, socioeconomic characteristics, smartphone usage and pattern also self-reported symptoms were derived from the self-administered questionnaire. Student’s t-test, Pearson’s Chi Square and Pearson’s correlation were used to determine the association of factors (sociodemographic, socioeconomic status and academic performance) on smartphone usage and pattern. Simple and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) were performed to seek the main factor contributing to the association of smartphone usage and pattern on self-reported symptoms. Results Smartphone usage SAS-M score was 101.43 (25.15). Smartphone pattern revealed an average of 7 years owning a smartphone, make or receive calls about 32 minutes per day and spend around 4 hours per day other than calls, and the participants equally use their smartphone for entertainment (50%) and non-entertainment (50%) purposes. They have about one extra device besides their smartphone and usually would first use their smartphone within 15 minutes after wake-up in the morning. Employed father status (Adj. ß = 7.431, 95% CI: 3.069, 11.793) and entertainment (Adj. ß = 4.211, 95% CI: 0.460, 7.962) as most personally relevant smartphone function are the significant main predictors for self-reported symptoms after controlling other factors. Conclusions These results suggest that father’s occupation and entertainment function of smartphone pattern affect self-reported symptoms among medical students in the setting of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Parents’ active participation is crucial from early childhood education on proper ways to utilise smartphones, also having support system on seeking various ways of entertainment. Public campaigns promoting awareness on proper way of utilising smartphone to avoid the tendency of smartphone addiction are essential.

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