Smart phones and medical students: Pleasant distraction or dangerous addiction?

Smart phones are central to communication in the current century. We administered a survey to determine the impact of excessive smart phone use on academic performance, interpersonal relationships and mental health in medical students. During the study, 700 medical students from King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan, were administered a questionnaire which recorded information about demographics, academic performance, interpersonal relationships and psychological problems. Out of 630 respondents, 255(40.5%) were males and 375(59.5%) were females with a mean age of 21.1}1.8 years. Results showed smart phone use during class lectures was associated with significant reduction in academic performance and problems with interpersonal relationships. Medical students bullied via smart phones were likely to bully others. Excessive use of smart phones was associated with students preferring to communicate emotions through texting rather than verbal communication. Various psychological problems were found prevalent in excessive users of smart phones.