A Study to assess level of Nomophobia among people residing in selected areas

Abstract

Background: Mobile phones have become an important part of everyone’s lives. In recent times, there seems to have been a transformation of the mobile phone from a status symbol to a necessity because of the countless advantages it provides. Excessive and addicting use of mobile phone, especially smart phone results in physical and psychological symptoms such as loneliness, interpersonal anxiety, poor self-control, and low self-esteem. Material and Method: A quantitative, nonexperimental, descriptive, cross-sectional survey research approach was used to assess the level of nomophobia of conveniently selected 390 people from selected areas. The standardized scale was used for the data collection. The data collection was carried out in three phases and the data was analysed by using the descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results reveal that majority 160 (41%) the respondents had severe nomophobia, 33% of the respondents had moderate level of nomophobia, 23% of the respondents had mild level of nomophobia and only 3% have no nomophobia. Conclusion: It is concluded that 97% of the respondents had nomophobia. Of them, majority (41%) of the participants had severe level of nomophobia and majority of the study participants (33%) had moderate level of nomophobia. Excessive use of smart phone may result in dependency on mobile phone. It is an alarming sign for the public and health-care professionals. More focus should be given for the early detection and intervention for treat nomophobia.