Comparative Study on Smart Mobile Phone Usage Pattern, and It’s Dependence among Medical and Engineering Students at ANES Campus, Visakhapatnam, India

Modern days mobile phones have become an indispensable tool for communication. Recent literature shows the existence of co-morbidity between the use of smartphone, internet addiction, and psychiatric disorders. A study was conducted on the usage pattern and dependence on mobile phones among the students of professional colleges. A cross-sectional study among 100 medical & 100 engineering students, was conducted at Anil Neerukonda Educational Society (ANES), Visakhapatnam, India. Data were collected using a pre-designed & pre-tested questionnaire from October to November 2018. SAS-SV Scale was used to assess the mobile phone dependence. Collation of data was done using inferential statistical methods. Majority of respondents were females (52.5%) and in the age group of 19 years. Medical group included 32% males & 68% females and engineering group included 63% males & 37% females. 75% of students in both the groups were using mobile phone for a duration of 1-6 hours a day. While 32% students had addiction scale of more than 31 another 33% students were in the addiction scale range of between 22 and 30. An increased dependence of mobile phone usage among medical & engineering students had a negative effect on physical and mental health resulting in poor academic performance.