Health Education and Health Promotion

The Mobile Phone Use Status and Its Relationship with Students’ Demographic Characteristics of Yazd University of Medical Sciences

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

Z. Khazir 1
M.H. Amirzade-Iranaq 2
S.H. Niksima 3
M.A. Zareipour 4

1 Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

2 Universal Network of Interdisciplinary Research in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Universal Scientific Education and Research Network, Tehran, Iran

3 Preventive Medicine and Public Health Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

4 Health System Research Unit, Urmia Health Center, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran

Abstract
Aims: Mobile phone use has become increasingly popular among university students. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the status of mobile phone use among university students and its relationship with demographic characteristics.

Instruments & Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2016, 272 students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences were selected using a stratified random sampling method. The data collection tools included demographic information and excessive mobile phone use questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.

Findings: There was no significant relationship between students' age, gender, education level, and residence place with mobile phone use total score (p>0.05). However, there was a significant relationship between the variables of cigarette smoking, coffee consumption, and listening to music before bedtime with the mobile phone use total score among university students (p<0.05). Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the education level of university students’ parents and mobile phone use score (p<0.05).

Conclusion: High value of adequate and correct education of students towards Internet and social media addiction, in addition to increase the level of media literacy are critical issues to consider in this regard.

Keywords

Mobile Phone Use
Iran
Medical students
Psychology
Cross-sectional study
Subjects
  1. 1. Thomée S, Dellve L, Härenstam A, Hagberg M. Perceived connections between information and communication technology use and mental symptoms among young adults-a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2010;10(1):66.
    2. Zhao T-Y, Zou S-P, Knapp PE. Exposure to cell phone radiation up-regulates apoptosis genes in primary cultures of neurons and astrocytes. Neuroscience letters. 2007;412(1):34-8.
    3. Johansson A, Nordin S, Heiden M, Sandström M. Symptoms, personality traits, and stress in people with mobile phone-related symptoms and electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Journal of psychosomatic research. 2010;68(1):37-45.
    4. Van den Bulck J. Adolescent use of mobile phones for calling and for sending text messages after lights out: results from a prospective cohort study with a one-year follow-up. Sleep. 2007;30(9):1220-3.
    5. Bianchi A, Phillips JG. Psychological predictors of problem mobile phone use. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 2005;8(1):39-51.
    6. Repacholi MH. Health risks from the use of mobile phones. Toxicology letters. 2001;120(1-3):323-31.
    7. Jenaro C, Flores N, Gómez-Vela M, González-Gil F, Caballo C. Problematic internet and cell-phone use: Psychological, behavioral, and health correlates. Addiction research & theory. 2007;15(3):309-20.
    8. Mansourian M, Solhi M, Adab Z, Latifi M. Relationship between dependence to mobile phone with loneliness and social support in University students. Razi Journal of Medical Sciences. 2014;21(120):1-8.
    9. Azuki T. Today's mobile phone users: current and emerging trends. Cyber Psych Behav. 2008;12(2):334-50.
    10. Billieux J, Van der Linden M, Rochat L. The role of impulsivity in actual and problematic use of the mobile phone. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. 2008;22(9):1195-210.
    11. Hocking B, Westerman R. Neurological effects of radiofrequency radiation. Occupational Medicine. 2003;53(2):123-7.
    12. Yioultsis T, Kosmanis T, Kosmidou E, Zygiridis T, Kantartzis N, Xenos T, et al. A comparative study of the biological effects of various mobile phone and wireless LAN antennas. IEEE transactions on magnetics. 2002;38(2):777-80.
    13. Dibajnia P. Comparative investigation of self-concept between the freshman and senior students. Research in Medicine. 2005;29(3):231-4.
    14. Lorente S. Youth and mobile telephones: More than a fashion. Revista de Estudios de Juventud. 2002;57(2):9-24.
    15. Laru J, Järvelä S. Social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among members of the professional distance education community. Educational Media International. 2008;45(1):17-32.
    16. Ezoe S, Toda M, Yoshimura K, Naritomi A, Den R, Morimoto K. Relationships of personality and lifestyle with mobile phone dependence among female nursing students. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal. 2009;37(2):231-8.
    17. GOLMOHAMMADIAN M, Yyaseminejad P. Normalization, validity and reliability of Cell-phone Over-use Scale (COS) among university students. 2011.
    18. Yahyazadeh S, Fallahi-Khoshknab M, Norouzi K, Dalvandi A. The prevalence of smart phone addiction among students in medical sciences universities in Tehran 2016. Advances in Nursing & Midwifery. 2017;26(94):1-10.
    19. Aljomaa SS, Qudah MFA, Albursan IS, Bakhiet SF, Abduljabbar AS. Smartphone addiction among university students in the light of some variables. Computers in Human Behavior. 2016;61:155-64.
    20. Kee I-K, Byun J-S, Jung J-K, Choi J-K. The presence of altered craniocervical posture and mobility in smartphone-addicted teenagers with temporomandibular disorders. Journal of physical therapy science. 2016;28(2):339-46.
    21. Kahyaoğlu-Süt H, Kurt S, Uzal Ö, Özdilek S. Efects of smartphone addiction level on social and educational life ın health sciences students. Euras Journal Fam Med. 2016;5(1):13-9.
    22. Matar Boumosleh J, Jaalouk D. Depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction in university students-A cross sectional study. PLoS one. 2017;12(8).
    23. Zanjani Z, Moghbeli Hanzaii M, Mohsenabadi H. The relationship of depression, distress tolerance and difficulty in emotional regulation with addiction to cell-phone use in students of Kashan University. Feyz Journal of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. 2018;22(4):411-20.
    24. Hong F-Y, Chiu S-I, Huang D-H. A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students. Computers in Human Behavior. 2012;28(6):2152-9.
    25. Atadokht A, Hamidifar V, Mohammadi I. Over-use and type of mobile phone users in high school students and its relationship with academic performance and achievement motivation. J School Psychol. 2014;3(2):122-36.
    26. Khazaie T, Saadatjoo A, Dormohamadi S, Soleimani M, Toosinia M, Mullah Hassan Zadeh F. Prevalence of mobile dependency and adolescence aggression. Journal of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. 2013;19(4):430-8.
    27. Yaseminejad P, Golmohammadian M, Yoosefi N. The study of the relationship between cell-phone use and general heath in students. Knowl Res Appl Psychol. 2012;13(1):60-72.
    28. Baghiyani Moghadam MH, Shahbazi H. An Explanatory Analysis of Mobile Phone Usage Pattern among Medical Students of Yazd Shahid Sadoghi University of Medical Sciences, 2010 Cohorts. Global Media Journal. 2011;6(1).
    29. Iqbal Z. Gender differences in mobile phone use: What communication motives does it gratify. European Journal of Scientific Research. 2010;46(4):510-22.
    30. ABEDINI Y, ZAMANI BE. Investigating motivation, type and rate of mobile use in university students. 2013.
    31. Zamani BE, Babadi Akashe Z, Abedini Y. Predicting the Relationship between Students’ Addiction Behaviors to Cellar Phones and Their Demographic and Psychological Characteristics of Shahrkord Universities. Journal of Applied Sociology. 2016;8(27).
    32. KARIMZADEGAN S, SALATIN P. The Effect of Information and Communication Technology on Health Economics. 2017.
    33. Toda M, Monden K, Kubo K, Morimoto K. Mobile phone dependence and health-related lifestyle of university students. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal. 2006;34(10):1277-84.
    34. Ejazi F, Zolfaghari A. Investigating the relationship between mobile usage and smoking. Applied studies in Social Sciences and Sociology. 2019;2(3).
    35. Shams J, Azizi A, Mirzaei A. Correlation between distress tolerance and emotional regulation with students smoking dependence. Hakim Research Journal. 2010;13(1):11-8.
    36. AYADI N, ABBASI M, PIRANI Z, TAGHVAYI D, PIRANI A. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMOTIONS'CONTROL, DISTRESS TOLERANCE AND HARMFUL USE OF CELL PHONES AMONG STUDENTS. 2016.
    37. Mezei G, Benyi M, Muller A. Mobile phone ownership and use among school children in three Hungarian cities. Bioelectromagnetics: Journal of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, The Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine, The European Bioelectromagnetics Association. 2007;28(4):309-15.
    38. Thomas S, Heinrich S, Kühnlein A, Radon K. The association between socioeconomic status and exposure to mobile telecommunication networks in children and adolescents. Bioelectromagnetics: Journal of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, The Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine, The European Bioelectromagnetics Association. 2010;31(1):20-7.
  2. Thomée S, Dellve L, Härenstam A, Hagberg M. Perceived connections between information and communication technology use and mental symptoms among young adults-a qualitative study. BMC Public Health. 2010;10(1):66. [Link] [DOI:10.1186/1471-2458-10-66]
  3. Zhao TY, Zou SP, Knapp PE. Exposure to cell phone radiation up-regulates apoptosis genes in primary cultures of neurons and astrocytes. Neurosci Lett. 2007;412(1):34-8. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.neulet.2006.09.092]
  4. Johansson A, Nordin S, Heiden M, Sandström M. Symptoms, personality traits, and stress in people with mobile phone-related symptoms and electromagnetic hypersensitivity. J Psychosom Res. 2010;68(1):37-45. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.06.009]
  5. Van Den Bulck J. Adolescent use of mobile phones for calling and for sending text messages after lights out: Results from a prospective cohort study with a one-year follow-up. Sleep. 2007;30(9):1220-3. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/sleep/30.9.1220]
  6. Bianchi A, Phillips JG. Psychological predictors of problem mobile phone use. CyberPsychol Behav. 2005;8(1):39-51. [Link] [DOI:10.1089/cpb.2005.8.39]
  7. Repacholi MH. Health risks from the use of mobile phones. Toxicol Lett. 2001;120(1-3):323-31. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/S0378-4274(01)00285-5]
  8. Jenaro C, Flores N, Gómez-Vela M, González-Gil F, Caballo C. Problematic internet and cell-phone use: Psychological, behavioral, and health correlates. Addict Res Theory. 2007;15(3):309-20. [Link] [DOI:10.1080/16066350701350247]
  9. Mansourian M, Solhi M, Adab Z, Latifi M. Relationship between dependence to mobile phone with loneliness and social support in University students. Razi J Med Sci. 2014;21(120):1-8. [Persian] [Link]
  10. Azuki T. Today's mobile phone users: Current and emerging trends. Cyber Psych Behav. 2008;12(2):334-50. [Link]
  11. Billieux J, Van Der Linden M, Rochat L. The role of impulsivity in actual and problematic use of the mobile phone. Appl Cogn Psychol Off J Soc Appl Res Mem Cogn. 2008;22(9):1195-210. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/acp.1429]
  12. Hocking B, Westerman R. Neurological effects of radiofrequency radiation. Occup Med. 2003;53(2):123-7. [Link] [DOI:10.1093/occmed/kqg030]
  13. Yioultsis TV, Kosmanis TI, Kosmidou EP, Zygiridis TT, Kantartzis NV, Xenos TD, et al. A comparative study of the biological effects of various mobile phone and wireless LAN antennas. IEEE Trans Magn. 2002;38(2):777-80. [Link] [DOI:10.1109/20.996201]
  14. Dibajnia P. Comparative investigation of self-concept between the freshman and senior students. Res Med. 2005;29(3):231-4. [Persian] [Link]
  15. Lorente S. Youth and mobile telephones: More than a fashion. Revista de Estudios de Juventud. 2002;57(2):9-24. [Link]
  16. Laru J, Järvelä S. Social patterns in mobile technology mediated collaboration among members of the professional distance education community. Educ Media Int. 2008;45(1):17-32. [Link] [DOI:10.1080/09523980701847131]
  17. Ezoe S, Toda M, Yoshimura K, Naritomi A, Den R, Morimoto K. Relationships of personality and lifestyle with mobile phone dependence among female nursing students. Soc Behav Personal Int J. 2009;37(2):231-8. [Link] [DOI:10.2224/sbp.2009.37.2.231]
  18. Golmohammadian M, Yaseminejad P. Normalization, validity and reliability of Cell-phone Over-use Scale (COS) among university students. J Soc Psychol. 2011;6(19):37-52. [Persian] [Link]
  19. Yahyazadeh S, Fallahi-Khoshknab M, Norouzi K, Dalvandi A. The prevalence of smart phone addiction among students in medical sciences universities in Tehran 2016. Adv Nurs Midwifery. 2017;26(94):1-10. [Link]
  20. Aljomaa SS, Qudah MF, Albursan IS, Bakhiet SF, Abduljabbar AS. Smartphone addiction among university students in the light of some variables. Comput Hum Behav. 2016;61:155-64. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.041]
  21. Kee IK, Byun JS, Jung JK, Choi JK. The presence of altered craniocervical posture and mobility in smartphone-addicted teenagers with temporomandibular disorders. J Phys Ther Sci. 2016;28(2):339-46. [Link] [DOI:10.1589/jpts.28.339]
  22. Kahyaoğlu-Süt H, Kurt S, Uzal Ö, Özdilek S. Efects of smartphone addiction level on social and educational life ın health sciences students. Avrasya Aile Hekimliği Dergisi. 2016;5(1):13-9. [Link]
  23. Matar Boumosleh J, Jaalouk D. Depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction in university students-A cross sectional study. PLoS One. 2017;12(8):e0182239. [Link] [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0182239]
  24. Zanjani Z, Moghbeli Hanzaii M, Mohsenabadi H. The relationship of depression, distress tolerance and difficulty in emotional regulation with addiction to cell-phone use in students of Kashan University. Feyz J Kashan Univ Med Sci. 2018;22(4):411-20. [Persian] [Link] [DOI:10.29252/qums.22.5.4]
  25. Hong FY, Chiu SI, Huang DH. A model of the relationship between psychological characteristics, mobile phone addiction and use of mobile phones by Taiwanese university female students. Comput Hum Behav. 2012;28(6):2152-9. [Link] [DOI:10.1016/j.chb.2012.06.020]
  26. Atadokht A, Hamidifar V, Mohammadi I. Over-use and type of mobile phone users in high school students and its relationship with academic performance and achievement motivation. J School Psychol. 2014;3(2):122-36. [Persian] [Link]
  27. Khazaie T, Saadatjoo A, Dormohamadi S, Soleimani M, Toosinia M, Mullah Hassan Zadeh F. Prevalence of mobile dependency and adolescence aggression. J Birjand Univ Med Sci. 2013;19(4):430-8. [Persian] [Link]
  28. Yaseminejad P, Golmohammadian M, Yoosefi N. The study of the relationship between cell-phone use and general heath in students. Knowl Res Appl Psychol. 2012;13(1):60-72. [Persian] [Link]
  29. Baghiyani Moghadam MH, Shahbazi H. An Explanatory Analysis of Mobile Phone Usage Pattern among Medical Students of Yazd Shahid Sadoghi University of Medical Sciences, 2010 Cohorts. Glob Media J. 2011;6(1):1-17. [Persian] [Link]
  30. Iqbal Z. Gender differences in mobile phone use: What communication motives does it gratify. Eur J Sci Res. 2010;46(4):510-22. [Persian] [Link]
  31. Abedini Y, Zamani BE. Investigating motivation, type and rate of mobile use in university students. Contemp Psychol. 2013;7(2):73-86. [Persian] [Link]
  32. Zamani BE, Babadi Akashe Z, Abedini Y. Predicting the relationship between students addiction behaviors to cellar phones and their demographic and psychological characteristics of Shahrkord universities. J Appl Sociol. 2016;27(2):81-92. [Persian] [Link]
  33. Karimzadegan S, Salatin P. The effect of information and communication technology on health economics. Econ Model. 2017;11(1):129-46. [Persian [Link]
  34. Toda M, Monden K, Kubo K, Morimoto K. Mobile phone dependence and health-related lifestyle of university students. Soc Behav Personal Int J. 2006;34(10):1277-84. [Link] [DOI:10.2224/sbp.2006.34.10.1277]
  35. Ejazi F, Zolfaghari A. Investigating the relationship between mobile usage and smoking. Appl Stud Soc Sci Sociol. 2019;2(3):1-14. [Persian] [Link]
  36. Azizi A, Mirzaei A, Shams J. Correlation between distress tolerance and emotional regulation with students smoking dependence. Hakim Health Syst Res. 2010;13(1):11-8. [Persian] [Link]
  37. Ayadi N, Abbasi M, Pirani Z, Taghvayi D, Pirani A. The relationship between emotions'control, distress tolerance and harmful use of cell phones among students. Inf Comun Technol Educ Sci. 2016;7(1):145-62. [Persian] [Link]
  38. Mezei G, Benyi M, Muller A. Mobile phone ownership and use among school children in three Hungarian cities. Bioelectromagnetics. 2007;28(4):309-15. [Link] [DOI:10.1002/bem.20270]
  39. Thomas S, Heinrich S, Kühnlein A, Radon K. The association between socioeconomic status and exposure to mobile telecommunication networks in children and adolescents. Bioelectromagnetics. 2010;31(1):20-7. [Link] [DOI:10.1097/01.ede.0000362216.98114.4f]
Health Education and Health Promotion
Volume 8, Issue 3
Autumn 2020
Pages 161-166