ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2022
Prevalence of Upper Limb Musculoskeletal Disorders and Their Association with Smartphone Addiction and Smartphone Usage among University Students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hand injuries associated with mobile phone use: A systematic review.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2026Pooled it
- Physical activity levels among college students in Saudi Arabia.Saudi medical journal · 2025Pooled it
- Acute effect of whole-body vibration on hand grip strength, muscular activity, and upper limb function in young females with smartphone addiction: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Trial
- Article
- Prevalence of De Quervain's Tenosynovitis among Mobile Phone Using Students in Pakistan: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health insights · 2026Review
- Factors associated with musculoskeletal pain in the spinal column of children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study with network analysis.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2026Article
- Effect of mobile phone addiction on hand disorder, eye health, fatıgue and cognitive failures.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Examining the prevalence of neck and hand disorders and its relationship with smartphone addiction in medical students.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Physiotherapy in Text Neck Syndrome: A Scoping Review of Current Evidence and Future Directions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Associations between Smartphone Usage with Upper-Body Abnormalities, Obesity, Mental Wellbeing and Physical Fitness of High-School Male Students.International journal of school health · 2025Article
- Mobile phone dependence and musculoskeletal pain prevalence in adolescents: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Influence of self-reported physical exercise on musculoskeletal pain among Chinese medical students.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Examining the relationship between smartphone characteristics and the prevalence of hand discomfort among university students.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The impact of smartphone use duration and posture on the prevalence of hand pain among college students.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Musculoskeletal Health Risks Associated With Smartphone Use: A Retrospective Study from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2024Article
- Article
- Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper and lower limb: Prevalence among patients in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia.Saudi medical journal · 2024Article
- Article
- The Association Between Smartphone Addiction/Overuse With Hand and Wrist Musculoskeletal Complaints, Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Awareness of Musculoskeletal Injuries Associated With Competitive Video Gaming in Saudi Arabia.Cureus · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and their association with smartphone addiction and smartphone usage among university students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 313 university students aged 18 years and older who owned a smartphone and used it during the preceding 12 months participated in this cross-sectional study. The prevalence of upper limb MSDs, smartphone addiction/overuse, and levels of physical activity were recorded using the standardized Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire, the smartphone addiction scale (short version), and the international physical activity questionnaire (short form), respectively. Data collection was performed on campus between March and May 2021. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the association between the prevalence of upper limb MSDs and smartphone addiction/overuse and levels of physical activity. The 12-month prevalence of MSDs of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist/hand regions due to smartphone use among participants was found to be 20.13%, 5.11%, and 13.42%, respectively. Shoulder (odds ratio (OR) = 11.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.64−27.94, p < 0.001), elbow (OR = 15.38, 95% CI = 1.92−123.26, p = 0.01), and wrist/hand MSDs (OR = 7.65, 95% CI = 2.75−21.22, p < 0.001) were more prevalent among participants who were categorized as having smartphone addiction/overuse measures. Promoting awareness about the healthy use of smartphones, including postural education and decreasing screen time, is necessary to reduce smartphone-related MSDs.
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Registered trials
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