Prevalence and Pattern of Mobile Gaming among Senior Secondary School Students in a Semi-Urban Town in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Excessive mobile gaming among young people has become a global public health issue. This paper aimed to determine the prevalence and  pattern of mobile phone gaming among secondary school students. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 401 secondary school students in Orlu, selected using multistage sampling technique. A  structured self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire information on the socio-demographic characteristics and pattern of gaming. The Internet Gaming Disorder Scale–Short-Form (IGDS9-SF) was used to assess problems related to gaming in the last 12 months. Data was entered and  analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 21. Pearson's Chi-square test was used for categorical variables while Students ttest was used for continuous variables. p 0.05 was regarded as significant. Results: Two (0.6%) of the respondents met the criteria for Internet gaming disorder. Three hundred and fifty-seven (89%) respondents had played  mobile games at least once in their lifetime while three hundred and thirteen (78.1%) had played mobile games at least once in the past 12 months. One  hundred and ten respondents (35.1%) had played mobile games nearly every day in the past 12 months. Most respondents, 132 (42.2%) played games  offline. Two hundred and twentynine respondents (73.2%) have betted with others on the outcome of games played. Conclusion: Mobile gaming was common among secondary school students in Orlu, but the rate of gaming disorder was low. Measures targeted at  adolescents should be developed to educate them on the potential dangers of mobile gaming.