The Dilemma of Mobile Phone Overuse: Findings from a Quasi-Experimental Study on a Cohort of Pakistani Adolescents

Background Excessive mobile phone use is a health hazard among school going children. This study aimed to assess the change in knowledge and practices after providing awareness session on mobile phone usage to school-going adolescents. Methods Using a quasi-experimental design, we included 385 students, 13 to 16 years old using smartphones from three schools of Karachi, Pakistan. Convenience sampling was used to collect data through a structured questionnaire. Predictive factors of smartphone addiction were assessed, along with frequency of mobile phone use and its adverse effects on health. Analysis was done on SPSS 23. Results Before the session, 86% (n=331) students used their mobile phone to call their friends which reduced to 71.7% (n=276) (p<0.001). Average length of each call per day before was 5.68 minutes which declined to 4.92 minutes (p<0.001). Before the session, 28.1% (n=108) students thought that mobile phones have a negative health impact which increased to 84.9% (n=327) (p= 0.02). Furthermore, 50.1% (n=193) students believed that they are dependent on their mobile phone which decreased to 31.2% (n=120) (p<0.001). Conclusion We conclude that there are positive effects of awareness session on mobile phone use among adolescents. Conducting such sessions periodically among schools can lessen the usage and addiction of smartphones.