The prevalence of smartphone addiction and associated factors among Zimbabwean undergraduate students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Smartphones are an invaluable daily tool, with over a third of the world having mobile access to the internet. There has been a concurrent upsurge in smartphone use among university students, and despite these benefits, excessive use of smartphones is highly prevalent. Smartphone addiction/problematic mobile phone use is a behavioural addiction that leads to severe impairment and distress. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to an exponential increase in smartphone usage, further exacerbating the burden of smartphone addiction. This study aims to determine the prevalence of smartphone addiction and its associated risk factors among Zimbabwean university students. Data were collected from 380 undergraduate students and analyzed through descriptive statistics, bivariate statistics, and binary logistic regression.Results: The prevalence of smartphone addiction in our study population was 54.2%. After controlling for potential covariates, social media usage (OR 2.7: CI 1.2 – 5.9), using a smartphone for entertainment (OR 2.2: CI 1.2 – 4.0), the experience of coronavirus-induced anxiety (OR 1.1: CI 1.0 – 3.2) and an experience of an adverse event (OR 1.8) were associated with increased smartphone addiction. The use of smartphones for academic work was protective against smartphone addiction (OR .38: CI .19 - .77).