Excessive use of mobile phones by medical students: should precautions be taken?

Smart mobile phone usage is rapidly increasing among the students in colleges. Many new symptoms have emerged such as mobile phone addiction, nomophobia and ringxiety among users. The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of mobile phone use by medical students in a medical college in Oman and to see if the students were using their mobile phones safely. A questionnaire was constructed to get basic knowledge about the use of smart phone by the college students. 129 students responded, results showed that 100% of the students were using a mobile device, 50% of the students, who were mostly females, were using internet via WiFi on their mobile for more than 4 hours per day, and majority (83%) were using headphones. During lectures, 85% kept mobile phone ‘on’, 65% sent messages, 20% even played games and 7% received or made calls. While sleeping, 70% did not switch off their phones, 33% kept it under their pillow and 60% on a side table. When asked if their parents limit the use of their phone, 83% say no. 90% of the students were aware of the fact that mobile phones electromagnetic waves may cause health problem. We conclude that there is excessive usage of mobile phone among the medical students and more safety measures need to be introduced. It is time to make new rules and policies regulating its use in the campus to avoid adverse effects.