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Research Objectives
To investigate musculoskeletal pain patterns in the upper body according to smartphone
usage posture.
Design
A cross-sectional online survey using google foam. The questionnaire consisted of
4 sections with 84 questions: 1) basic information on the participant's characteristics
and smartphones, 2) smartphone use posture (whole body positions, neck flexion degree,
and hand-held posture), 3) the smartphone addiction scale, and 4) characteristics
of musculoskeletal pain.
Setting
No specific research setting is required.
Participants
237 individuals who have used smartphones regularly for more than 5 years participated
in this study from China and Korea.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
The musculoskeletal pain and discomfort intensity was assessed using VAS and the Students
Specific Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaires (SS-CMDQ) & Cornell Hand
Discomfort Questionnaires (CMDQ).
Results
Prone position users reported upper arm pain more frequently compared to other positions.
People who use a smartphone on the side-lying and prone reported a higher level of
Low back pain compared to sitting position. Pain score in the shoulder area was highest
in the most flexed neck posture (p< 0.05), The frequency of hand pain was in the order
of wrist (21.7%), 4-5rh fingers (20.7%), 2-3rd fingers (18.2%), thumb (16.9%), and
hyper thenar area (15%). The most painful hand regions were the wrist and thumb. Both
pain frequency and intensity were the lowest in the people who held smartphones with
two hands horizontally. Holding the phone in one hand with pinky support was associated
with the most frequent and severe pain in all hand areas, especially in 4-5rh fingers.
Conclusions
There are differences in the musculoskeletal pain pattern of the upper body according
to the smartphone posture. Educating and promoting a good smartphone using posture
is necessary to prevent musculoskeletal pain. Further experimental studies on individuals
with smartphone-related musculoskeletal symptoms are required.
Author(s) Disclosures
No conflict of interest.
Key Words
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Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
