Nomophobia: an emerging issue in medical institutions?

Abstract

Background: Nomophobia is No Mobile Phone Phobia - the fear of being without a mobile device or beyond mobile phone contact. The time and money wastage by medical students is a negative aspect of mobile phone dependence. This time can be utilized for academic and recreational activities.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of Nomophobia in the students in 1st year MBBS.

Methods: Study area: A medical college in Pune city.

Study period: December 2015 to February 2016. A cross-sectional study was carried out on all the students of 1st year MBBS. A predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed statistically by simple proportions using SPSS v20.

Results: A total of 145 students were monitored according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Amongst all the participants, 45.5% were males (66/145) and 54.5% were females (79/145). Mild Nomophobia was found in 17.9% students whereas 60% had moderate and 22.1% had severe Nomophobia. Amongst the males, 56.06% and 24.24% had moderate and severe Nomophobia, respectively while in females, moderate and severe Nomophobia was found to be 63.25% and 20.25%, respectively.

Conclusion: Nomophobia is found to be prevalent in students of 1st year MBBS.

Keywords: Nomophobia; medical students; mobile phone dependence.