Effects of Excessive Usage of Electronic Gadgets During COVID-19 Lockdown On Health of College Students: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
Effects of Excessive Usage of Electronic Gadgets During COVID-19 Lockdown On Health of College Students: An Online Cross-Sectional Study
Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care, Vol 13(2), 139-145,
1-9, 20212021 DOI: 10.18311/ajprhc/2021/26836
Abstract
The use of electronic gadgets, especially mobile phones among youth, has been a growing global concern. The worldwide
COVID-19 lockdown has only amplified the issue. The extended period of lockdown and virtual classes has increased
college students' time on their electronic gadgets. The debilitating health effect of excessive usage of gadgets has been
well established. There are an array of effects like headache, nausea, ophthalmological concerns and psychological
outcomes associated with gadget use for extended periods. The study aims to understand the difference in time spent
using gadgets before and during the lockdown and the associated health impacts. The study included 348 participants
(n=348), consisting of 183 female and 165 male participants. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire
through Google forms from college students after obtaining consent. The results suggested that the average time spent on
gadgets increased from 4.75hrs/day before lockdown to 11.36hrs/day during lockdown among participants. Most health
complaints like headaches, insomnia, eye complaints, tiredness and restlessness were associated with gadget use during
the lockdown. The percentage of participants experiencing these complaints during lockdown was also significantly higher
than before lockdown. By understanding the effects of gadget use, it would be possible to create interventions and suggest
ways to manage the excessive use of gadgets. It is of prime importance to handle the issue considering the quality of life
and wellbeing of students.
smartphones, tablets, laptops and other electronic gadgets the number of calls made is a good indicator of cell phone
that pose a threat to the existing social infrastructure. addiction11. Earlier studies on mobile phone usage suggest
The term “gadget” discussed in the present study refers a change of lifestyle pattern related to mobile phone
to the portable electronic devices that belong to either use during lockdown with decreased physical activity,
one or more of the following categories: Mobile phones, increased smartphone use, and increased sleeping time9.
MP3 players and gaming consoles or any other wireless- India had 18,985 confirmed cases and 603 deaths
enabled devices4. due to COVID-19 as of April 22, 2020. The first case of
COVID-19 was reported in India on 30th January 2020.
1.2 Health Effects of Gadget Use The Government of India closed down the nation’s
Gadget usage is of significant concern due to the health international borders and enforced a nationwide lockdown
implications they cause. Continuous use of gadgets on 25th March 2020. However, the distinct and diverse
leads to many reported health problems like eye strain, nature of the Indian population posed several challenges
fingerpain, backache, neck pain and sleep disturbances. during the lockdown, including increased gadget usage12.
Depending on the amount of time spent on gadgets Smartphone usage has become more profound during the
(duration and frequency), there are adverse physiological, outbreak of the Novel Corona Virus globally13. Sanudo
psychological, social and emotional effects4. Excessive et al. found an increase of 2 hours/day of smartphone
use of gadgets among youth during a time of stress is a usage during the lockdown9. There was a 185% increase in
growing threat as well5. There has been an established gadgets like smartphones and computers in countries like
relationship between excessive internet use and Denmark14. Online tools like Zoom, Google Hangouts,
loneliness, antisocial values, lower emotional intelligence Skype Meet up, Google classrooms, and YouTube has
and depression6. Social media, video calls and virtual been used to carry out student’s academic activities.
meetings are being used extensively for various purposes Although virtual classes held during the lockdown have
during the lockdown7. Headache, earache, neck pain, increased student engagement in courses15, social media
tinnitus, painful fingers, fatigue, eye symptoms, morning activity has also increased among students, either in
tiredness, restlessness and sleep disturbances are health content uploading or creating social awareness messages.
issues found to develop due to mobile phone usage8. A pressing concern associated with excessive gadget usage
Sañudo et al. found that students delayed their wake time is the amount of content that has been binge-watched by
by 12 minutes with an increase of sleep time of 5 minutes individuals. Distress among students has increased due
per day during the lockdown. However, no change in to binge-watching. It is also known to be associated with
sleep quality was observed9. several adverse psychological outcomes16.
Mobile phone radiation and its impact on health have 2. Rationale and Significance of Study
been generated from its innovation and researchers have
tried to analyze the actual hazardous nature of radiation The present study aimed to assess the gadget usage
to human health. Organizations like WHO and IEEE levels and the associated health hazards experienced by
Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) have serious college students. The study intended to analyze the health
public safety concerns about the exposure of individuals impacts of increased gadget use among college students
to Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave (MW) field during the lockdown. Earlier studies have attempted to
from handheld, portable cell phones since these devices study the effects of increased gadget use on the health
use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range10. of individuals. But the lockdown has brought about
The physical and psychological consequences of mobile a scenario that has set a field to make extended use of
phone users are increasing at an alarming rate. gadgets a necessity, especially for college students. At
this point, it is essential to understand the impact of such
1.3 COVID-19 Lockdown and use of prolonged use of gadgets on health to make necessary
Gadgets among Students lifestyle changes. Such changes would benefit the students
and help manage the health issues that arise from the
A study conducted by Roberts et al. highlighted that
overuse of gadgets during the extended lockdown period.
texting is the most important activity college students
carry out using their mobiles. Sending the email was the
second most important activity, followed by social media
sites like Facebook. The findings also suggest that the
time college students spend on social media networks and
140 Vol 13 (2) | 2021 | www.informaticsjournals.org/index.php/ajprhc Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care
Tamilselvan Pachiyappan, Kousalya V. Kumar, Preethi Mark, Ragukumar Venugopal, Divya Jilumudi and Bharathi Palanisamy
Vol 13 (2) | 2021 | www.informaticsjournals.org/index.php/ajprhc Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care 141
Effects of Excessive Usage of Electronic Gadgets during COVID-19 Lockdown on Health of College Students...
250
11.36
12 200
Number of
10 Average time spent on 150 complaints before
gadgets before lock- lockdown
Hours
Figure 1. Average time spent using gadgets before and Figure 2. The number of each health complaint experi
during lockdown by respondents. enced by respondents before and during the
lockdown
like redness of eyes, blurring, backache, restlessness, and Only 71% of the present study respondents practiced
shoulder pain at p<0.001. measures to reduce gadget usage, while 29% did not
35% of the study participants preferred to monitor practice them. Out of the 29% who did not practice the
screen as well as gadget usage time and alter them to control measure did so dominantly because they could
appropriate levels. 25% of participants chose to use not identify an alternative to gadget use (62%). 21%
screen time controls. In contrast, 17% preferred using did not practice them because they could not maintain
productivity apps, 15% preferred increasing the hands- restraint, 11% because they felt obsessed with overusing
free length and 8% preferred to decrease the talking gadgets and 6% did not prefer using them.
duration.
Table 1. Percentage of complaints experiences before and during lockdown by participants
5. Discussion gadgets for attending online classes, 20% of the students use
their gadgets for gaming, 20% for online courses/webinars/
The present study included 348 participants, out of which meetings, 10% for research activity, 19% for reading, 16%
183 (52.6%) were females and 165 (47.4%) were males. for listening to music and 12% for messaging. The study
During the lockdown, 3% of the students were using their conducted by Gupta et al. showed female students were
142 Vol 13 (2) | 2021 | www.informaticsjournals.org/index.php/ajprhc Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care
Tamilselvan Pachiyappan, Kousalya V. Kumar, Preethi Mark, Ragukumar Venugopal, Divya Jilumudi and Bharathi Palanisamy
Table 2. Association between average times spent on gadgets and health complaints before and during the lockdown
Pearson Chi-Square Time Spent on Gadget before Lockdown Time Spent on Gadget during Lockdown
more dependent on gadgets compared to male students blurring of the eye, 40.2% participants had shoulder pain,
and also a higher dependency on gadgets was seen among 38.5% participants had redness of eye, 16.7% participants
medical students17. Dixit et al. evaluated psychological had nausea. This was similar to the study conducted
dependence on mobile phones among medical college by Kumar et al. where majority (90.5%) of the study
students, according to which 18% of females and 19% participants were found to be using smartphones. Among
of males were found to be nomophobic which is the them, 57.5% had problems related to vision, 39% hearing
fear of being out of mobile phone contacts18. The study problems and 20% had reduced physical activity20.
conducted by Sun et al. showed that participants were The study highlights the excess usage of gadgets by
more active on their phone, in particular, interacting with college students during lockdown that has led to several
others using social apps, especially around major news health impacts.
events, suggesting increased physical distancing while
socializing and interaction. They also further found that
participants had lower heart rates, slept more and went to
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
bed late16. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about numerous
The present study shows that 8.6% of participants lifestyle and environmental changes. There have been
had complaints of blurring vision (eye) even before the both positive and negative impacts as a consequence. The
lockdown, which was more than the research findings increased usage of gadgets for educational and recreational
conducted in Saudi, where 5.04% had decreased or purposes has resulted in adverse health effects for individuals.
blurred vision. In the present study, there is a drastic
increase in the complaint by 42% during the lockdown However, the need to use gadgets is at an all-time high to make
due to increased gadgets usage19. attending classes and work possible. Therefore, eliminating
The study conducted by Kumar et al. showed that gadgets might not be the solution, whereas controlling it to
out of 90.5% of study subjects, majority of participants appropriate levels would be. Individuals need to be aware
(50.2%) were using smart-phones for more than 7 hours of the adverse effects of excessive use of gadgets. It is also
a day. 42.5% of study participants used gadgets for social essential to be informed about ways to control adverse
networking, 14% for work and 13.5% for entertainment effects of gadget use like increasing blinking frequency,
for more than 7 hours a day. screen time controls and proper seating arrangements. The
Also, in the present study, 75.3% of participants had key to deriving positive results from control measures is
a headache, 60.6% of participants had sleeplessness, to increase the consistency of using them. The majority of
57.2% of participants had pain in the eye region, 56% the adverse health effects arise because of the inability to
of participants had tiredness, 53.4% participants had maintain restraints. It is of prime importance to set realistic
body pain, 52% of participants had a backache, 44.8%
expectations to control gadget use in the current lockdown
participants had restlessness, 42% participants had
scenario and follow them.
Vol 13 (2) | 2021 | www.informaticsjournals.org/index.php/ajprhc Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care 143
Effects of Excessive Usage of Electronic Gadgets during COVID-19 Lockdown on Health of College Students...
144 Vol 13 (2) | 2021 | www.informaticsjournals.org/index.php/ajprhc Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care
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