The short-term effect of smartphone usage on the upper-back postures of university students

Maria Elizabeth Cochrane*, Muziwakhe Daniel Tshabalala, Nkateko Climax Hlatswayo, Rosina Mahlatse Modipana, Pertunia Phuti Makibelo, Exaggerate Potego Mashale, Lerato Caroline Pete

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. The purpose of the current study was to determine the short-term effects of smartphone usage on the upper-back postures of university students. Sixty-three students completed a self-administered questionnaire and photographic postural analysis. Smartphone usage significantly affected shoulder protraction on the non-dominant side (p = 0.000); thoracic kyphosis (p = 0.000); lateral neck flexion (p = 0.029 left and p = 0.001 right) and pelvic obliquity (p = 0.000 left and right). The results indicate that smartphones negatively affect the postures of university students and may result in severe long-term clinical implications such as chronic neck-, thoracic- and low back pain, headaches and decreased concentration.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1627752
JournalCogent Engineering
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • posture
  • smartphones
  • university students
  • upper-back

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