Abstract

Smartphones are an essential part of our everyday life. Most students are mostly dependent on Smartphone for various reasons. Smartphone usage has both positive and negative effects. Excessive use of Smartphone negatively affects students’ careers as well as their daily lives, including physical and mental health. The main objective of this study was to investigate smartphone addiction among nursing and midwifery students in Bangladesh. This was a descriptive survey study. The participants were 752 (565 nursing and 187 midwifery) students. They were asked about various aspects of smartphone usage. The instrument was Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) for Bangladeshi Students. It was a self-reporting questionnaire. Demographic information and responses of students regarding smartphone usage were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 30 years, with a mean age of 21.68 years. Out of them, 134 were males and 618 were females. The survey study found that nursing and midwifery students were moderately (M=29.97, SD=14.29) addicted to smartphones. Further investigation revealed that smartphone addiction had a negative impact on students’ academic performance (73.1%), daily activities (62.9%), eye pain (64.1%), and headache (59.8%), which is a real concern. The findings of this study provide alarming evidence for students, parents, and relevant authorities. These findings may provide substantial support for expanding awareness and developing preventive strategies such as psychotherapy, game, and multicomponent involvements to reduce smartphone addiction among nursing and midwifery students.

Keywords

smartphone addiction, nursing and midwifery students