Assessment the nomophobia among medical students in Tikrit University College of Medicine

Abstract

Background Nomophobia (no- mobile- phobia) by definition is the fear of being without mobile phone contact. If a person is in an area of no network, has run out of balance or even worse run out of battery. Nomophobia symptoms include physical side effects as panic attack, shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, sweating, increased heart rate, chest pain and nausea. In recent times the cell phone transformed from a status symbol to a necessity as a result of the countless uses, a mobile phone provides  personal diary, email dispatcher, and music player, camera, game player, calculator, video, and other programs. Aim: The goal of this study is to assess the nomophobia characteristics of students in Tikrit medical college.
Patients and method: A cross sectional study was conducted in Tikrit University College of Medicine from the 1st of January 2016 to the 1st of April 2016. The study included 180 students (86 were males and 94 were females) from Tikrit medical college. Samples were selected by simple random sampling from first to sixth grade. The data was collected by using a questionnaire which was administered by the students themselves after taking Permission from them.
Results: results shows that 79 (84%) of females and 70 (81.4%) of males check their phones always. 70.9% of males and 70.2% of females use their phones for contact with family, 59.3% of males and 52.1% of females for social network, and 52.3% of males use their phones for medical apps while only 35.1% of females use it for this purpose. 50 (58.1%) of males and 68 (72.3%) of females keep their phone at head while sleeping. 46 (53.5%) of males don't keep their phones silent while sleeping, while only 35 (37.3%) of females do the same.
Conclusion: The symptoms of nomophobia is highly frequent among medical students, about 58% among males and 79% among females.
Recommendations: The  study  recommend  to  achieve  more  studies  on  the  signs, symptoms, and side effect of nomophobia. Develop more programs and articles for young people on the correct use of smart phones and the disadvantages of wrong use of these devices.