Background
Methods
Study design and study population
Sampling strategy
Questionnaire tool
Sample size
Ethical statement
Statistical analysis
Results
Demographics characteristics
Demographic variable | Overall (n = 5191) | Saudi Arabia (n = 4422) | Jordan (n = 769) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
f (%) | Frequency | Percentage | Frequency | Percentage | ||
Age categories (years) | ||||||
18–29 years | 2998 (57.8%) | 2781 | 62.9% | 217 | 28.2% | |
30–49 years | 1515 | 29.2% | 1200 | 27.1% | 315 | 41.0% |
50 years and above | 678 | 13.1% | 441 | 10.0% | 237 | 30.8% |
Gender | ||||||
Females | 3582 | 69.0% | 3025 | 68.4% | 557 | 72.4% |
Marital status | ||||||
Single | 2745 | 52.9% | 2538 | 57.4% | 207 | 26.9% |
Married | 2196 | 42.3% | 1683 | 38.1% | 513 | 66.7% |
Divorced | 163 | 3.1% | 145 | 3.3% | 18 | 2.3% |
Widowed | 87 | 1.7% | 56 | 1.3% | 31 | 2.3% |
Education level | ||||||
Secondary school level | 1410 | 27.2% | 1224 | 31.9% | 186 | 26.2% |
Bachelor degree | 3453 | 66.5% | 2971 | 67.2% | 482 | 62.7% |
Higher education | 328 | 6.3% | 227 | 5.9% | 101 | 14.2% |
Employment status | ||||||
Retired | 311 | 6.0% | 215 | 5.6% | 96 | 13.5% |
Unemployed | 1161 | 22.4% | 881 | 22.9% | 280 | 39.5% |
Employed | 1956 | 37.7% | 1643 | 37.2% | 313 | 40.7% |
Students | 1763 | 34.0% | 1683 | 43.8% | 80 | 11.3% |
Income level | ||||||
Less than 700$ | 2658 | 51.2% | 2254 | 51.0% | 404 | 52.5% |
700–1500$ | 741 | 14.3% | 507 | 11.5% | 234 | 30.4% |
1500–2100$ | 388 | 7.5% | 322 | 7.3% | 66 | 8.6% |
2100$ and above | 1404 | 27.0% | 1339 | 30.3% | 65 | 8.5% |
In general, do you suffer from an anxiety problem or use a treatment for anxiety? | ||||||
Yes | 1378 | 26.5% | 1184 | 27.2% | 194 | 28.4% |
Median daily time spent on using mobile phone (IQR) (minutes): | ||||||
210.0 (IQR: 180.0) | 210 (IQR: 150.0) | 140.0 (IQR: 108.5) | ||||
Duration of mobile phone usage (years): | ||||||
Less than one year | 45 | 0.9% | 30 | 0.7% | 15 | 2.0% |
1–5 years | 506 | 9.7% | 429 | 9.7% | 77 | 10.0% |
6–10 years | 1700 | 32.7% | 1489 | 33.7% | 211 | 27.4% |
10 years and above | 2940 | 56.6% | 2474 | 55.9% | 466 | 60.6% |
Mobile phone use pattern
Question | Yes |
---|---|
Q1. When not using the mobile, are you preoccupied with the mobile phone (Keep constantly thinking about the previous and the future uses)? | 41.9% |
Q2. Do you need to use mobile phone for increased amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction/betterment? | 40.7% |
Q3. Have you made unsuccessful efforts to control/decrease or stop mobile phone use? | 46.0% |
Q4. Do you get upset when attempting to cut down mobile phone use? | 32.0% |
Q5. Has mobile phone use led to decrease in meeting the friends in person? | 39.1% |
Q6. Has mobile phone use has made you spend less time with friends/ family? | 49.3% |
Q7. Has mobile phone use has led to decrease in socialization? (meeting friends/ hanging out) | 35.4% |
Q8. Do you lose track of time after starting to use mobile phone for SMS, games, music etc.? | 71.9% |
Q9. Do you lie to others to conceal the extent of your use of mobile phone? | 19.1% |
Q10. Do you become anxious of missing something if you have to switch off your mobile phone for some reason? | 42.4% |
Q11. Do you compulsively respond to calls/ SMSs at places which don’t permit (Class, driving, group participation)? | 32.6% |
Q12. Do you compulsively respond to calls/ SMSs at places where it is dangerous to do so (crossing road, driving/ working at machines)? | 23.7% |
Q13. Do you call back to most of the missed calls? | 54.5% |
Q14. Does using mobile phone help you to overcome the bad moods (e.g. feeling of inferiority, helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression etc.)? | 56.8% |
Q15. Do you feel guilty about the expenditure on (or excessive use of) mobile phone? | 42.1% |
Q16. Do you get irritated in the morning if you are not able to locate your mobile phone? | 73.3% |
Q17. Do your families/ friends/ colleagues complain that your mobile phone use is excessive? | 34.0% |
Q18. Do you get annoyed or shout if someone asks you to decrease the use of mobile phone? | 22.7% |
Q19. Do you frequently participate in SMSs or phone entry competitions? | 17.2% |
Q20. Do you think you are getting addicted to mobile use? | 49.8% |
Participants' mobile dependence score
Demographic variable | Overall | Saudi Arabia | Jordan | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean ( ±) | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
Age categories (years) | ||||||
18–29 years | 8.93 ± 4.54 | 8.97 | 4.57 | 8.40 | 4.06 | |
30–49 years | 7.84 | 4.55 | 8.08 | 4.67 | 6.95 | 3.96 |
50 years and above | 6.21 | 4.03 | 6.38 | 4.23 | 5.89 | 3.60 |
Gender | ||||||
Males | 8.53 | 4.74 | 8.68 | 4.78 | 7.67 | 4.43 |
Females | 8.18 | 4.50 | 8.42 | 4.57 | 6.81 | 3.80 |
Marital status | ||||||
Single | 8.95 | 4.53 | 9.00 | 4.56 | 8.29 | 4.13 |
Married | 7.45 | 4.42 | 7.68 | 4.55 | 6.65 | 3.88 |
Divorced | 8.85 | 5.31 | 9.05 | 5.40 | 7.38 | 4.54 |
Widowed | 6.75 | 4.46 | 7.46 | 4.99 | 5.52 | 3.05 |
Education level | ||||||
Secondary school level | 8.66 | 4.61 | 8.92 | 4.63 | 6.92 | 4.04 |
Bachelor degree | 8.13 | 4.53 | 8.30 | 4.60 | 7.04 | 3.94 |
Higher education | 7.93 | 4.68 | 8.15 | 4.84 | 7.36 | 4.20 |
Employment status | ||||||
Retired | 6.14 | 4.11 | 6.35 | 4.23 | 5.61 | 3.79 |
Unemployed | 7.93 | 4.59 | 8.31 | 4.77 | 6.68 | 3.68 |
Employed | 8.37 | 4.77 | 8.53 | 4.88 | 7.61 | 4.16 |
Students | 8.81 | 4.36 | 8.84 | 4.37 | 8.34 | 4.18 |
Income level | ||||||
Less than 700$ | 8.46 | 4.44 | 8.72 | 4.45 | 6.91 | 4.05 |
700–1500$ | 8.09 | 4.61 | 8.46 | 4.84 | 7.28 | 3.94 |
1500–2100$ | 8.46 | 4.55 | 8.64 | 4.69 | 7.44 | 3.53 |
2100$ and above | 7.93 | 4.83 | 7.99 | 4.85 | 6.80 | 4.30 |
In general, do you suffer from an anxiety problem or use a treatment for anxiety? | ||||||
No | 7.73 | 4.46 | 7.99 | 4.52 | 6.17 | 3.65 |
Yes | 9.75 | 4.56 | 9.84 | 4.65 | 9.26 | 3.98 |
Duration of mobile phone usage (years): | ||||||
Less than one year | 9.04 | 5.20 | 9.36 | 5.73 | 8.38 | 3.93 |
1–5 years | 8.68 | 4.58 | 8.91 | 4.59 | 7.39 | 4.30 |
6–10 years | 8.57 | 4.39 | 8.71 | 4.41 | 7.55 | 4.06 |
10 years and above | 8.02 | 4.66 | 8.26 | 4.75 | 6.71 | 3.89 |
ICD-10 criteria for mobile dependence syndrome
ICD-10 Criteria for Dependence syndrome | Percentage of participants |
---|---|
Intense Desire (Q1) | 41.9% |
Impaired control (Q3,8,11,19) | 55.5% |
Withdrawal (Q10,13,16) | 60.1% |
Tolerance (Q2) | 40.7% |
Decreased pleasure (Q5,6,7,17) | 45.9% |
Harmful use (Q12) | 23.7% |
Dependence syndrome among Mobile phone users | 51.2% |
Risk factors of mobile phone dependence
Demographic variable | Odds ratio of being mobile phone dependent (95%CI) |
---|---|
Age categories (years) | |
18–29 years (Reference group) | 1.00 |
30–49 years | 0.85 (0.76–0.96) ** |
50 years and above | 0.44 (0.37–0.52) *** |
Gender | |
Males (Reference group) | 1.00 |
Females | 0.84 (0.75–0.95) ** |
Marital status | |
Single (Reference group) | 1.00 |
Married | 0.62 (0.56–0.70) *** |
Divorced | 1.46 (1.06–2.00)* |
Widowed | 0.52 (0.34–0.81) ** |
Education level | |
Secondary school level (Reference group) | 1.00 |
Bachelor degree | 0.87 (0.78–0.97) * |
Higher education | 0.89 (0.71–1.12) |
Employment status | |
Retired (Reference group) | 1.00 |
Unemployed | 0.82 (0.72–0.94) ** |
Employed | 0.96 (0.85–1.09) |
Students | 1.37 (1.22–1.54) *** |
Income level | |
Less than 700$ (Reference group) | 1.00 |
700–1500$ | 0.93 (0.79–1.08) |
1500–2100$ | 0.98 (0.80–1.21) |
2100$ and above | 0.90 (0.79–1.01) |
In general, do you suffer from an anxiety problem or use a treatment for anxiety? | |
No (Reference group) | 1.00 |
Yes | 2.17 (1.91–2.47) *** |
Duration of mobile phone usage (years): | |
Less than one year (Reference group) | 1.00 |
1–5 years | 1.20 (1.00–1.45) * |
6–10 years | 1.20 (1.07–1.34) ** |
10 years and above | 0.79 (0.71–0.89) *** |