Depression, smartphone addiction, and association factors among preclinical medical students

Authors

  • Aticha Wattanaudomchai Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Sookjaroen Tangwongchai Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Decha Lalitanantpong Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Keywords:

Depression, medical student, smartphone addiction

Abstract

Background: There were few studies of smartphone addiction behavior has been found in preclinical medical students.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and associated factors of depression of smartphone addiction behavior among preclinical medical students of Chulalongkorn University.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. The data were collected from preclinical medical students at Chulalongkorn University in 2020 academic year, prior to COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. The instruments included the Smartphone Addiction Scale Thai version (SAS-SV-TH), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Thai version (PHQ-9-T), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Thai version (PSQI-T), and Thai Interpersonal questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Univariate analysis was performed to analyze for associated factors and Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odd ratio of depression and smartphone addiction.

Results: The study recruited 343 preclinical medical students with a mean age of 19.6  1.3 years old and half of the subjects were males. The prevalence of smartphone addiction was 42.9 %. Depression and poor sleep quality were reported in 25.4% and 11.4% of the subjects, respectively. After adjusted the variables from univariate model, the significant factors of depression were smartphone addiction (2.025; 95% CI 1.163 – 3.524), poor sleep quality (6.767; 95% CI 3.110 – 14.725), having underlying physical illness (2.99; 95% CI 1.583, 5.647), being female (1.76; 95% CI 1.000 – 3.098, GPA < 3.5 (2.995; 95% CI 1.624 – 5.523) and not interested in studying Medicines (2.537; 95% CI 1.262 – 5.103). The significant factors that associated with smartphone addiction were depression (2.115; 95% CI 1.263 – 3.541), regular alcohol drinking (3.783; 95% CI 1.248 – 11.465), interpersonal deficits (1.733; 95% CI 1.099 – 2.732) and 2nd year students (2.404; 95% CI 1.357 – 4.258).

Conclusion: Smartphone addiction, poor sleep quality, study related problems were associated with depression. Four significant factors associated with smartphone addiction were depression, class year, regular alcohol drinking, and interpersonal deficits. Smartphone addiction, sleep quality, underlying physical illnesses, gender, GPA and not interested in studying Medicines are associated with depression in preclinical medical students

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Published

2023-04-10

How to Cite

1.
Wattanaudomchai A, Tangwongchai S, Lalitanantpong D. Depression, smartphone addiction, and association factors among preclinical medical students. Chula Med J [Internet]. 2023 Apr. 10 [cited 2024 Oct. 12];67(2). Available from: https://he05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/CMJ/article/view/13