THE IMPACT OF SMARTPHONE ADDICTION ON EMPATHY AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS

Authors : Neslihan Cansel, Elif Beyza Avcı, Büşra Tutal, Fatma Zehra Alaca, Mobin Ghaffari, Gamze Kumaşoğlu, Melike Sena Çitil, Sema Küçükbiltekin, Feyza Nur Taner, İpek Balıkçı Çiçek

Pages : 89-101

Doi:10.33715/inonusaglik.1583915

View : 64 | Download : 50

Publication Date : 2025-02-24

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Smartphone addiction has become an increasing significant public health issue. This study has investigated the relationship between smartphone addiction, and empathy levels, and demographic variables among medical students. As a cross-sectional study, the research has been conducted with 261 medical students educating in İnönü University Medical Faculty between 21.03.2022-31.03.2022. Participants completed a survey delivered to them via Google Forms, including questions about demographic characteristics, reasons for phone use, as well as the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Analyses were performed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0. The students\\\' average SAS score was 90.39±23.39, and the mean TEQ score was 52.59 ± 6.66. Approximately 33.7% of participants scored above 50% on the SAS. Smartphones were used most often to listen to music (42.5%) and least often to play games (27%). Students with higher social media use and female students scores were higher on the SAS when compared to others (p<0.05). While there was no correlation between the average SAS score and the average TEQ score, it was observed that as the scores given to the negative questions in the TEQ scale increased, the SAS scores also increased (p<0.05). Phone addiction is an increasing problem, and identifying risk groups, especially among healthcare workers, and taking precautions will make important contributions in improving the quality of service provided.
Keywords : Akıllı telefon, Bağımlılık, Empati, Öğrenci, Tıp.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE URL