Smartphone Addiction among Students of Medical College in Kathmandu

Background Smartphones have become an important device in current day living. With the advent of technology, smartphones have become a necessity of life. However, every technological invention has brought both comfort and problems. Objective To explore the prevalence of smartphone addiction among medical students and the associated factors. Method A cross sectional study was conducted with the sample size of 358. Convenient sampling method was used among medical students. Smartphone addiction scale short version was used to find participants those having an addiction and not having an addiction. The Perceived Stress Scale, and Loneliness Scale was used to assess perceived stress, personality, and loneliness. The analysis featured both descriptive and inferential statistics, utilizing the Chi-square test and Pearson correlation, conducted with SPSS. In all statistical tests, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result Smartphone addiction among medical students was 117 (32.6%) with 95% CI (0.275, 0.377). Self-reported addiction was found to be the biggest predictor of smartphone addiction. There was a significant association between smart phone addiction and psychological factors such as perceived stress (p < 0.001), loneliness (p < 0.001), and various personality traits, including conscientiousness (p < 0.022), emotional stability (p < 0.045), and openness to experiences (p < 0.001). Conclusion Smartphone addiction was common among the medical college students investigated. There was an increased level of stress and loneliness who were addicted to their smartphones. Therefore, it is essential to implement awareness programs that educate students about the risks associated with excessive smartphone use.