The number of smartphone users in Malaysia is expected to reach 29 million by 2021. The objective of this research is to examine the effects of excessive smartphone usage on the health of public university students in Selangor, Malaysia, from an ergonomic perspective. A cross-sectional study was involving a sample of 200 students enrolled in public universities located in the Klang Valley region. Purposive sampling was used, and data was collected through self-administered. The data was analysed using SPSS software and the Chi-square statistical test was employed. The majority of respondents were in the age range of 22 to 23. The findings indicated a noteworthy correlation between health issues related to musculoskeletal disorders (r = 0.000, p = 0.330). Research has demonstrated that the excessive utilisation of smartphones can exert detrimental effects on human well-being, encompassing both physical and emotional dimensions. The advent of smartphone has had a profound impact on cultural norms and human conduct, with discernible effects in both good and negative domains. The extent to which smartphone exert detrimental influence on society is largely contingent upon the agency and efforts of individuals to regulate and mitigate such effects.
Abdullah, Y., Sedek, M., Mahat, J., & Zainal, N. (2012). Individual characteristic in online gaming and mobile application use among students in higher education institution: A confirmatory factor analysis. In Prosiding Seminar Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi (Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 345-360).
Alfawareh, H. M. & Jusoh, S. (2014). Smartphones usage among university students: Najran University case. International Journal of Academic Research, 6(2), 321-326.
Al-Barashdi, H., Bouazza, A., & Jabur, N. (2015). Smartphone addiction among university undergraduates: A literature review, Journal of Scientific Research and Reports, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 210–225.
Azlina Wati, N., Nurul Azreen, H., Muhammad Farid, S., Nur Suhailah, M. Z., Nur Nabihah, H. S., & Nur Basyariah, A. (2018). The use and addiction to smart phones among medical students and staffs in a public university in Malaysia. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 19(1).
Baabdullah, A., Bokhary, D., Kabli, Y., Saggaf, O., Daiwali, M., & Hamdi, A. (2020). The association between smartphone addiction and thumb/wrist pain. Medicine, 99(10), e19124.
Balakrishnan, R., Chinnavan, E., & Feii, T. (2016). An extensive usage of hand held devices will lead to musculoskeletal disorder of upper extremity among student in AMU: A survey method. International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health, 368(2), 368–372.
Ching, S. M., Yee, A., Ramachandran, V., Lim, S. M. S., Sulaiman, W. A. W., Foo, Y. L., & Hoo, F. K. (2015). Validation of a Malay version of the smartphone addiction scale among medical students in Malaysia. PLoS ONE, 10(10), e0139337.
Chen, J., Cranton, W., & Fihn, M. (2012). Handbook of visual display technology. Springer.
Coleman, B., Coarsey, C., Kabir, M. A., & Asghar, W. (2019). Point-of-care colorimetric analysis through smartphone video. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 282, 225-231.
Damodaran, K. K., Sharma, V., & Purushothaman, S. (2019). Relationship between the hand discomfort with the dimensions of hand and touch screen mobiles. In Drug Invention Today | (Vol. 12).
Elhai, J. D., Dvorak, R. D., Levine, J. C., & Hall, B. J. (2017). Problematic smartphone use: A conceptual overview and systematic review of relations with anxiety and depression psychopathology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 207, 251–259.
Fossum, I. N., Nordness, L. T., Storemark, S. S., Bjorvatn, B., & Pallesen, S. (2014). Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 12(5), 343-357.
Gligor, S., & Mozos, I. (2019). Indicators of smartphone addiction and stress score in university students. Wien Klin Wochenschr, 131(5-6), 120-125.
Hossain, M. E., & Ahmed, S. Z. (2016). Academic use of smartphones by university students: a developing country perspective. The Electronic Library.
Hwang, K.-H., Yoo, Y.-S., & Cho, O.-H. (2012). Smartphone Overuse and Upper Extremity Pain, Anxiety, Depression, and Interpersonal Relationships among College Students. The Journal of the Korea Contents Association, 12(10), 365– 375.
Hysing, M., Pallesen, S., Stormark, K., Jakobsen, R., Lundervold, A., Sivertsen, B., 2015. Sleep and use of electronic devices in adolescence: results from a large populationbased study. BMJ Open 5, e006748.
Ithnain, N., Ghazali, S. E., & Jaafar, N. (2018). Relationship between Smartphone Addiction with Anxiety and Depression among Undergraduate Students in Malaysia. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research, 1(1), 10.
Katz, J. E., & Aakhus, M. (Eds.). (2002). Perpetual contact: Mobile communication, private talk, public performance. Cambridge University Press.
Kim, Y., Briley, D. A., & Ocepek, M. G. (2015). Differential innovation of smartphone and application use by sociodemographics and personality. Computers in Human Behavior, 44, 141-147.
Kibona, L., & Mgaya, G. (2015). Smartphones’ effects on academic performance of higher learning students. Journal of Multidisciplinary Engineering Science and Technology, 2(4), 777-784.
Kim, H.-J., & Kim, J.-S. (2015). The relationship between smartphone uses and subjective musculoskeletal symptoms and university students. Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 27(3), 575–579.
Korhan, O., & Elghomati, A. (2019). MOB?LDokunmati?k EkranCi?hazi Kullaniminin KasI?skeleSi?stemi? RahatsizliklarinEtki?si?: Li?teratür Ara?tirmasi. Ergonomi, 2(3), 3–4.
Kruger, D. J., & Djerf, J. M. (2016). High ringxiety: Attachment anxiety predicts experiences of phantom cell phone ringing. Cyberpsychology, behavior, and social networking, 19(1), 56-59.
Lei, L. Y. C., Ismail, M. A. A., Mohammad, J. A. M., & Yusoff, M. S. B. (2020). The relationship of smartphone addiction with psychological distress and neuroticism among university medical students. BMC Psychology, 8(1), 97.
Lemola, S., Perkinson-Gloor, N., Brand, S., DewaldKaufmann, J. F., & Grob, A. (2015). Adolescents’ electronic media use at night, sleep disturbance, and depressive symptoms in the smartphone age. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44(2), 405-418.
Ma’azer Al Fawareh, H., & Jusoh, S. (2017). The use and effects of smartphones in higher education. Ijim, 11, 103.
Martín-Gutiérrez, J., Mora, C. E., Añorbe-Díaz, B., & González-Marrero, A. (2017). Virtual technologies trends in education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(2), 469-486.
Milenkovic, J. (2020, February 11). How Much Time Does the Average Person Spend on Their Phone? https://kommandotech.com/statistics/how-muchtime-does-the-average-person-spend-on-their-phone/
Namwongsa, S., Puntumetakul, R., Neubert, M. S., & Boucaut, R. (2018). Factors associated with neck disorders among university student smartphone users. Work, 61, 367–378.
Nath, A., & Mukherjee, S. (2015). Impact of Mobile Phone/Smartphone: A pilot study on positive and negative effects. International Journal, 3(5), 294-302.
Nick, T. (2012). Using Your Smartphone before Bedtime Isn't a Good Idea, and Here's Why.
Phone arena.
Qasim, T., Obeidat, M., & Al-Sharairi, S. (2017). The Effect of Smartphones on Human Health Relative to User’s Addiction: A Study on a Wide Range of Audiences in Jordan. International Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 11(5), 300–303.
Saadeh, H., Saadeh, M., Almobaideen, W., Al Refaei, A., Shewaikani, N., Al Fayez, R. Q., ... & Al-Hussaini, M. (2021). Effect of COVID-19 quarantine on the sleep quality and the depressive symptom levels of university students in Jordan during the spring of 2020. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 605676.
Samaha, M., & Hawi, N. S. (2016). Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 321–325.
Statista. (2022). Number of smartphone users in Malaysia from 2010 to 2020 and a forecast up to 2025. Statista Research Department.
Shah, P. P., & Sheth, M. S. (2018). Correlation of smartphone use addiction with text neck syndrome and SMS thumb in physiotherapy students. International Journal of Community Medicine, 5(6), 2512–2516.
Sharan, D., Mohandoss, M., Ranganathan, R., & Jose, J. (2014). Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities due to extensive usage of handheld devices. Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 26(1).
Shoukat, S. (2019). Cell phone addiction and psychological and physiological health in adolescents. EXCLI journal, 18, 47.
Suki, N. M. (2013). Students’ dependence on smart phones: The influence of social needs, social influences and convenience. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 30(2), 124–134.
Tantawy, S. A., Rahman, A. A., & Ameer, M. A. (2017). The relationship between the development of musculoskeletal disorders, body mass index, and academic stress in Bahraini University students. Korean Journal of Pain, 30(2), 126–133.
Toh, S. H., Howie, E. K., Coenen, P., & Straker, L. M. (2019). “From the moment I wake up I will use it… every day, very hour”: a qualitative study on the patterns of adolescents’ mobile touch screen device use from adolescent and parent perspectives. BMC pediatrics, 19(1), 1-16.
Tossell, C. C., Kortum, P., Shepard, C., Rahmati, A., & Zhong, L. (2015). You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him learn: Smartphone use in higher education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(4), 713-724.
Weinstein, L. (2014). The durable slum: Dharavi and the right to stay put in globalizing Mumbai (Vol. 23). U of Minnesota Press.
White, A., Buboltz, W., Igou, F. (2011). Mobile phone use and sleep quality and length in college students. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(18), 51-58.
Wong, K. C., Tho, F. L., & Sin, H. N. (2015). A study of the relationship between smartphone addiction and loneliness among male and female undergraduates in utar. In Comput. Human Behav. (Vol. 5, Issue January).
Xie, Y., Szeto, G. P. Y., Dai, J., & Madeleine, P. (2016). A comparison of muscle activity in using touchscreen smartphone among young people with and without chronic neck–shoulder pain. Ergonomics, 59(1), 61–72.
