Introduction : Musculoskeletal disorder is defined as damage to the musculoskeletal structures as a result of repetitive motions, forces, and postures adopted during the execution of certain activities. Smartphone forces an individual to look at their phone's small screen and perform repetitive movements in an awkward posture for a prolonged duration, which can cause musculoskeletal problems.
Methodology: 50 participants of age 18 to 40 attending OPD at Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Thiruvannamalai Medical College with complaints of pain involving neck and upper limbs were taken as participants between March 2022 and June 2022.
Results: The mean duration of screentime was 4.98 hours per day in the study population who presented with upper limb and neck pain who were smart phone users. The mean(SD) duration of smart phone usage in the study population was 4.6(±1.04) years. The maximum screentime was on gaming, social media, watching videos, reading, browsing, work related. The mean(SD) duration of the complaint was 6.18(±3.03) weeks.
Conclusion: The study reported that the prevalence of pain in smartphone users is high with common sites being neck, thumb, wrist, shoulder and back region.