Effect of prolonged smartphone use on cervical spine and hand grip strength in adolesence / Marina Nabil Samaan ; Supervised Emam Hassan Elnegmy , Amena Salem Hendawy , Ahmed Mohamed Elnahhas

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Growth and Development Disorders In Pediatrics

Background: Smartphones have become a necessity for most children as they are used for communication and entertainment purposes. they spend most of their time in smart phones using. This has side effects on their health. Purpose: To assess the effect of prolonged smartphones use on cervical spine and hand grip strength in adolescent children who use it more than four hours per day. Methods: 60 normal subjects with ages ranged from 14 to 18 years and divided into two groups of equal number (group A, group B): Group A is a control group who uses smartphone less than four hours per day. Group B is a study group who uses smartphone more than four hours per day. Using electromyography machine to investigate nerve conduction velocity of ulnar and median nerves universal goniometer was used to measure forward head angle, visual analogue scale was used to assess the neck pain and hand dynamometer was used to measure hand grip strength for subjects of both groups. Results: Within groups comparison, showed significant difference in conduction velocity of ulnar nerve, forward head angle and visual analog scale while showed no significant difference in conduction velocity of median nerve and hand grip strength between the two group. Conclusion: Prolonged use of smartphones in adolescence decrease conduction velocity of ulnar nerve, lead to increased forward head position angle and neck pain, without effect on handgrip strength and conduction velocity of median nerve

Issued also as CD