Sick of the cell phone

Abstract

The cellular telephone has evolved

in recent decades, becoming a crucial tool that,

through its use and affordability, contributes

to various risks to people’s physical and mental

health. These include technopathy, psychological

disorders, and abnormal behaviors linked to new

technologies, among which carpal tunnel syndrome,

insufficient  sleep  syndrome,  phantom  vibration

syndrome, nomophobia, and anxiety.

Objective.  To  identify, in nursing undergraduate students, health

problems linked to excessive use of the cell phone.

Methodology. The present research is a quantitative

and descriptive cross-sectional study of a sample of 64

students selected primarily according to two criteria:

ownership of one of the latest cell phone models and

daytime enrollment in the nursing undergraduate

program (first, second, third, or fourth year) in the

2015-2 semester. These students proceeded to take a

Spanish-language adaptation by Ollatz and Guillén

of the MPP-USA survey “Indiscriminate Usage of the

Mobile Phone.”

Results.

Analysis of the data indicates

that 91% of participants dedicate much of their time

to cell phone usage. Frequent usage is most closely

related to somatic and psychological symptoms,

the most common of which are phantom vibrations

(70%) and migraines (65%). Said symptoms reflect

a state of illness that affects all three spheres of the

person.

Conclusion.

 The results encourage continued

research on this phenomenon, as excessive usage of

cell phones leads to adverse health effects in many

people.