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. 2022 May 2;22(1):308.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-03957-5.

Smartphone addiction and its associated factors among freshmen medical students in China: a cross-sectional study

Huan Liu  1 , Zhiqing Zhou  2 , Ergang Zhu  3 , Long Huang  4 , Ming Zhang  5
Affiliations

Smartphone addiction and its associated factors among freshmen medical students in China: a cross-sectional study

Huan Liu et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: With smartphone use widespread worldwide, smartphone addiction is an emerging epidemic. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction among freshmen medical students and to explore its association with personal factors, mental health, and professional identity.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 10th to November 10th, 2020 and included 2,182 first-year college students at Wannan Medical College, China. The smartphone addiction test, professional identity, and a 12-item general health questionnaire were used for this cross-sectional survey. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) was employed to examine the correlations between smartphone addiction and mental health and professional identity. Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to assess the factors influencing smartphone addiction. Of the 2,182 students, 866 (39.7%) were identified as having smartphone addiction. The logistic regression analysis shows that four factors (professional identity scale, poor mental health, smartphone use before sleep, and perceived study pressure) were significantly associated with smartphone addiction.

Conclusions: This cross-sectional study suggests that smartphone addiction is common among Chinese freshmen medical students. Smartphone addiction was common among the freshmen medical students surveyed. The findings imply that promotional programs, aimed at enhancing mental health and professional identity among freshmen medical students, help to reduce smartphone addiction in this population.

Keywords: China; Freshmen medical students; Smartphone addiction.

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Conflict of interest statement

In accordance with the Helsinki guidelines, this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Wannan Medical College. We obtained informed consent from all participants through a statement of agreement at the beginning of each questionnaire. We ensured protection of the participants’ privacy and confidentiality of their personal information. Each subject was adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, the institutional affiliations of the researchers, the anticipated benefits and potential risks of the study, and all other relevant aspects of the study in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines.

All authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest and consent for publication.

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