A survey on smartphone use posture and pain in upper body musculoskeletal system

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.