Relationship between digital mobile device usage duration and neck awareness, neck pain intensity and neck disability among physiotherapy and rehabilitation department students with non-specific neck pain

Year 2025, Volume: 11 Issue: 5, 267 - 273

Dilara Onan , Halime Arıkan

https://doi.org/10.31459/turkjkin.1722437

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between daily mobile phone screen time and neck pain intensity, disability, and neck awareness in university students with neck pain. A total of 92 university students (13 males, 79 females) with non-specific neck pain were included in the study. Demographic data and average daily mobile phone screen time (in minutes/day) of the individuals were recorded. Neck pain intensity was assessed using the Numerical Rating Pain Scale (NRPS), neck disability was assessed using the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and neck awareness was assessed using the Fremantle Neck Awareness Questionnaire (FreNAQ). Correlational and linear regression analyses were performed. The mean age of the individuals was 22.78 years and the mean screen time was 336.37 ± 111.51 minutes per day. A weak but statistically significant negative correlation was found between screen time and neck pain intensity (r=-0.211; p=0.044) and NDI scores (r=-0.207, p=0.048), while no significant correlation was found between screen time and FreNAQ scores (r=-0.109; p=0.303). Linear regression analyses supported that higher neck pain or disability was associated with lower screen time (p<0.05), but the multiple regression model including both predictors approached, yet did not reach, statistical significance (p=0.059). These findings highlight that neck pain and disability may affect mobile phone use, highlighting the need for ergonomic and preventative strategies. Shorter mobile phone screen time was associated with higher neck pain intensity and disability levels. This may be due to individuals with more pain or disability behaviorally limiting screen use. The fact that physiotherapy and rehabilitation students are aware of this issue and have less screen time when they have neck problems may be a guide for future studies that improvements will work when the level of knowledge for the entire population increases. Additionally, the lack of a significant relationship between neck awareness and screen time may indicate that body perception constructs are more strongly associated with cognitive and emotional factors than with behavioral measures.

Keywords

Awareness , disability , neck pain , physiotherapy , screen time

Ethical Statement

Ethics committee approval for this study was obtained from the Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Faculty of Medicine Non-Interventional Scientific Research Ethics Committee (24/04/2025, 25-MOBAEK-139).

Supporting Institution

There is no funding support for this study.

Thanks

We would like to thank the university students who participated in the research.

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