Background
Overuse of ST devices and health-related problems
Methods
Study design, sampling technique and population
Research instrument and data collection
Ethical considerations
Statistical analysis
Results
Students’ socio-demographic data
Variable | n (%) |
---|---|
Gender | |
Male | 1399 (46.4) |
Female | 1616 (53.6) |
School | |
Primary | 1019 (33.8) |
Secondary | 976 (32.4) |
High school | 1020 (33.8) |
Educational region | |
Asimah | 482 (16.0) |
Hawally | 524 (17.4) |
Mubarak Al-Kabeer | 525 (17.4) |
Farwaniyah | 478 (15.9) |
Jahra | 529 (17.5) |
Ahmadi | 477 (15.8) |
Nationality | |
Kuwaiti | 2588 (85.8) |
Non-Kuwaiti Arab | 427 (14.2) |
Last semester GPA | |
A | 1150 (38.1) |
B | 937 (31.1) |
C | 603 (20.0) |
D | 205 (6.8) |
F | 71 (2.4) |
Father’s education | |
Secondary school or lower | 232 (7.7) |
High school | 585 (19.4) |
Diploma | 365 (12.1) |
Bachelor | 1162 (38.5) |
Postgraduate | 337 (11.2) |
Mother’s education | |
Secondary school or lower | 226 (7.5) |
High school | 524 (17.4) |
Diploma | 435 (14.4) |
Bachelor | 1338 (44.4) |
Postgraduate | 189 (6.3) |
Family income (KD per month) | |
Less than 500 | 36 (1.2) |
500–1000 | 259 (8.6) |
1000–2000 | 296 (9.8) |
More than 2000 | 292 (9.7) |
Students’ ownership of ST devices and patterns of use
Variable | < 2 h | 2–4 h | > 4 h | P-value |
---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
Gender | ||||
Male | 192 (13.9) | 363 (26.2) | 829 (59.9) | 0.107 |
Female | 261 (16.2) | 383 (23.8) | 964 (60.0) | |
School | ||||
Primary | 255 (25.4) | 246 (24.5) | 504 (50.1) | < 0.001 |
Secondary | 119 (12.2) | 232 (23.8) | 623 (64.0) | |
High school | 79 (7.8) | 268 (26.5) | 666 (65.7) | |
Educational region | ||||
Asimah | 61 (12.7) | 130 (27.1) | 288 (60.1) | 0.024 |
Hawally | 74 (14.2) | 146 (28.0) | 301 (57.8) | |
Mubarak Al-Kabeer | 68 (13.1) | 133 (25.6) | 319 (61.3) | |
Farwaniyah | 79 (16.7) | 114 (24.2) | 279 (59.1) | |
Jahra | 78 (14.8) | 110 (20.9) | 338 (64.3) | |
Ahmadi | 93 (19.6) | 113 (23.8) | 268 (56.5) | |
Nationality | ||||
Kuwaiti | 349 (13.6) | 604 (23.5) | 1612 62.8) | < 0.001 |
Non-Kuwaiti Arab | 104 (24.4) | 142 (33.3) | 181 (42.4) | |
Last semester GPA | ||||
A | 238 (20.8) | 324 (28.3) | 581 (50.8) | < 0.001 |
B | 111 (11.9) | 209 (22.5) | 609 (65.6) | |
C | 63 (10.5) | 155 (25.9) | 381 (63.6) | |
D | 27 (13.3) | 35 (17.2) | 141 (69.5) | |
F | 9 (12.9) | 17 (24.3) | 44 (62.9) | |
Father’s education | ||||
Secondary school or lower | 31 (13.4) | 54 (23.4) | 146 (63.2) | 0.004 |
High school | 72 (12.4) | 121 (20.8) | 388 (66.8) | |
Diploma | 48 (13.2) | 91 (25.1) | 224 (61.7) | |
Bachelor | 192 (16.7) | 314 (27.3) | 645 (56.0) | |
Postgraduate | 40 (11.9) | 89 (26.6) | 206 (61.5) | |
Mother’s education | ||||
Secondary school or lower | 35 (15.6) | 54 (24.1) | 135 (60.3) | 0.001 |
High school | 65 (12.5) | 118 (22.7) | 336 (64.7) | |
Diploma | 42 (9.7) | 106 (24.4) | 287 (66.0) | |
Bachelor | 224 (16.9) | 358 (27.0) | 746 (56.2) | |
Postgraduate | 29 (15.4) | 40 (21.3) | 119 (63.3) | |
Family income (KD per month) | ||||
Less than 500 | 13 (36.1) | 9 (25.0) | 14 (38.8) | 0.005 |
500–1000 | 51 (19.7) | 67 (25.9) | 141 (54.4) | |
1000-2000 | 42 (14.2) | 85 (28.7) | 169 (57.1) | |
More than 2000 | 34 (11.7) | 88 (30.2) | 169 (58.1) | |
Weight [M (IQR)] a | 49 kg (26) | 55 kg (24) | 55 kg (24) | < 0.001 |
Sports on a regular basis | ||||
Yes | 226 (17.3) | 365 (27.9) | 718 (54.9) | < 0.001 |
No | 222 (13.4) | 376 (22.6) | 1063 (64.0) | |
Seizures | ||||
Yes | 6 (12.8) | 8 (17.0) | 33 (70.2) | 0.33 |
No | 447 (15.2) | 738 (25.1) | 1760 (59.8) | |
Transient vision loss | ||||
Yes | 15 (11.9) | 22 (17.5) | 89 (70.6) | 0.041 |
No | 438 (15.3) | 724 (25.3) | 1704 (59.5) | |
Eye flashes | ||||
Yes | 43 (10.8) | 80 (20.1) | 275 (69.1) | < 0.001 |
No | 410 (15.8) | 666 (25.7) | 1518 (58.5) | |
Eye dryness | ||||
Yes | 72 (13.4) | 119 (22.1) | 348 (64.6) | 0.053 |
No | 381 (15.5) | 627 (25.6) | 1445 (58.9) | |
Blurred vision | ||||
Yes | 87 (14.0) | 114 (18.4) | 419 (67.6) | < 0.001 |
No | 366 (15.4) | 632 (26.6) | 1374 (57.9) | |
Near-sightedness | ||||
Yes | 38 (12.1) | 69 (22.0) | 207 (65.9) | 0.065 |
No | 415 (15.5) | 677 (25.3) | 1586 (59.2) | |
Eye squints | ||||
Yes | 9 (13.4) | 17 (25.4) | 41 (61.2) | 0.925 |
No | 444 (15.2) | 729 (24.9) | 1752 (59.9) | |
Headaches | ||||
Yes | 124 (11.8) | 251 (23.9) | 677 (64.4) | < 0.001 |
No | 329 (17.0) | 495 (25.5) | 1116 (57.5) | |
Sleep disturbances | ||||
Yes | 137 (12.5) | 214 (19.5) | 748 (68.1) | < 0.001 |
No | 316 (16.7) | 532 (28.1) | 1045 (55.2) | |
Neck/shoulder pain | ||||
Yes | 138 (12.2) | 271 (23.9) | 724 (63.9) | < 0.001 |
No | 315 (16.9) | 475 (25.6) | 1069 (57.5) | |
Lower-back pain | ||||
Yes | 48 (8.6) | 113 (20.2) | 398 (71.2) | < 0.001 |
No | 405 (16.6) | 633 (26.0) | 1395 (57.3) | |
Loss of concentration | ||||
Yes | 75 (10.3) | 155 (21.3) | 499 (68.4) | < 0.001 |
No | 378 (16.7) | 591 (26.1) | 1294 (57.2) | |
Obesity | ||||
Yes | 38 (9.3) | 96 (23.5) | 275 (67.2) | < 0.001 |
No | 415 (16.1) | 650 (25.2) | 1518 (58.8) |
Use of ST devices and health-related complaints
Hours of use of ST devices and associated factors
Hours of ST use per session and associated factors
Variable | < 1 h | 1–2 h | > 2 h | P-value |
---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | ||
Gender | ||||
Male | 613 (44.5) | 430 (31.2) | 335 (24.3) | 0.986 |
Female | 707 (44.2) | 503 (31.4) | 725 (24.4) | |
School | ||||
Primary | 426 (42.9) | 278 (28.0) | 290 (29.2) | < 0.001 |
Secondary | 381 (39.2) | 332 (34.2) | 258 (26.6) | |
High school | 513 (50.6) | 323 (31.9) | 177 (17.5) | |
Educational region | ||||
Asimah | 233 (48.6) | 143 (29.9) | 103 (21.5) | < 0.001 |
Hawally | 256 (49.1) | 153 (29.4) | 112 (21.5) | |
Mubarak Al-Kabeer | 211 (40.8) | 155 (30.0) | 151 (29.2) | |
Farwaniyah | 211 (44.9) | 147 (31.3) | 112 (23.8) | |
Jahra | 257 (40.9) | 135 (25.8) | 132 (25.2) | |
Ahmadi | 152 (32.5) | 200 (42.8) | 115 (24.6) | |
Nationality | ||||
Kuwaiti | 1092 (42.8) | 812 (31.8) | 649 (25.4) | < 0.001 |
Non-Kuwaiti Arab | 228 (53.6) | 121 (28.5) | 76 (17.9) | |
Last semester grade | ||||
A | 520 (45.9) | 346 (30.6) | 266 (23.5) | 0.173 |
B | 374 (40.4) | 313 (33.8) | 239 (25.8) | |
C | 278 (46.5) | 172 (28.8) | 148 (24.7) | |
D | 100 (49.0) | 63 (30.9) | 41 (20.1) | |
F | 31 (43.7) | 23 (32.4) | 17 (23.9) | |
Father’s education | ||||
Secondary school or lower | 99 (43.0) | 81 (35.2) | 50 (21.7) | 0.715 |
High school | 248 (43.1) | 185 (32.2) | 142 (24.7) | |
Diploma | 152 (41.9) | 121 (33.3) | 90 (24.8) | |
Bachelor | 532 (46.3) | 355 (30.9) | 261 (22.7) | |
Postgraduate | 139 (41.6) | 111 (33.2) | 84 (25.1) | |
Mother’s education | ||||
Secondary school or lower | 98 (43.8) | 73 (32.6) | 53 (23.7) | 0.013 |
High school | 222 (42.9) | 161 (31.1) | 134 (25.9) | |
Diploma | 158 (36.3) | 169 (38.9) | 108 (24.8) | |
Bachelor | 623 (47.3) | 405 (30.7) | 290 (22.0) | |
Postgraduate | 84 (45.2) | 56 (30.1) | 46 (24.7) | |
Family income (KD per month) | ||||
Less than 500 | 22 (61.1) | 9 (25.0) | 5 (13.9) | 0.001 |
500–1000 | 111 (43.2) | 85 (33.1) | 61 (23.7) | |
1000–2000 | 113 (38.2) | 98 (33.1) | 85 (28.7) | |
More than 2000 | 93 (32.0) | 113 (38.8) | 85 (29.2) | |
Weight | ||||
Underweight | 116 (49.6) | 66 (28.2) | 52 (22.2) | 0.145 |
Normal | 868 (44.2) | 616 (31.4) | 478 (24.4) | |
Obese | 311 (43.5) | 218 (30.5) | 186 (26.0) | |
Sports on a regular basis | ||||
Yes | 636 (48.8) | 391 (30.0) | 276 (21.2) | < 0.001 |
No | 675 (40.8) | 537 (32.4) | 444 (26.8) | |
Seizures | ||||
Yes | 14 (30.4) | 14 (30.4) | 18 (39.1) | 0.044 |
No | 1306 (44.5) | 919 (31.3) | 707 (24.1) | |
Transient vision loss | ||||
Yes | 38 (30.2) | 46 (36.5) | 42 (33.3) | 0.003 |
No | 1282 (45.0) | 887 (31.1) | 683 (23.9) | |
Eye flashes | ||||
Yes | 182 (45.4) | 113 (28.2) | 106 (26.4) | 0.299 |
No | 1138 (44.2) | 820 (31.8) | 619 (24.0) | |
Eye dryness | ||||
Yes | 223 (41.4) | 161 (29.9) | 154 (28.6) | 0.037 |
No | 1097 (45.0) | 772 (31.6) | 571 (23.4) | |
Blurred vision | ||||
Yes | 261 (42.2) | 179 (28.9) | 179 (28.9) | 0.011 |
No | 1059 (44.9) | 754 (32.0) | 546 (23.1) | |
Near-sightedness | ||||
Yes | 120 (38.6) | 94 (30.2) | 97 (31.2) | 0.009 |
No | 1200 (45.0) | 839 (31.5) | 628 (23.5) | |
Eye squints | ||||
Yes | 20 (29.4) | 22 (32.4) | 26 (38.2) | 0.011 |
No | 1300 (44.7) | 911 (31.3) | 699 (24.0) | |
Headaches | ||||
Yes | 437 (41.7) | 318 (30.4) | 292 (27.9) | 0.004 |
No | 883 (45.7) | 615 (31.8) | 433 (22.4) | |
Sleep disturbances | ||||
Yes | 457 (41.7) | 307 (28.0) | 331 (30.2) | < 0.001 |
No | 863 (45.8) | 626 (33.2) | 394 (20.9) | |
Neck and shoulder pain | ||||
Yes | 485 (42.9) | 351 (31.1) | 294 (26.0) | 0.229 |
No | 835 (45.2) | 582 (31.5) | 431 (23.3) | |
Lower-back pain | ||||
Yes | 220 (39.4) | 164 (29.3) | 175 (31.3) | < 0.001 |
No | 1100 (45.5) | 769 (31.8) | 550 (22.7) | |
Loss of concentration | ||||
Yes | 300 (41.2) | 200 (27.4) | 229 (31.4) | < 0.001 |
No | 1020 (45.4) | 733 (32.6) | 496 (22.1) | |
Obesity | ||||
Yes | 150 (37.1) | 129 (31.9) | 125 (30.9) | 0.001 |
No | 1170 (45.5) | 804 (31.2) | 600 (23.3) |