Objective: To determine the prevalence and associated factors with the occurrence of neck pain in smartphone users at Joseph KI-ZERBO University (UJKZ) in Ouagadougou in 2022. Method: The UJKZ served as the study framework. This was a descriptive crosssectional study with an analytical aim using stratified and proportional random sampling. The study included, any student registered at the UJKZ aged 18 to 30 years, having no previous history of neck pain and having given his free written consent. The evaluation of the associated factors was done by a bivariate and then
multivariate logistic regression. The Chi2 test was used to search for an association between neck pain (the variable of interest) and the other variables. A dendrogram allowed us to look for a link between the different variables in order to eliminate possible association bias. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Health Research (CERS) of Burkina Faso. 41 were excluded for a history of surgery or cervical trauma, i.e. an inclusion of 96.66%. Among the 727 participants included, 589 (81%) students had neck pain, the mean age being 23 (SD ± 1.8)
years; 286 (48.5%) were female with a sex ratio of 1.05. Smartphone was used permanently for 24 hours among 330 (56%) students and for more than 12 hours with 402 (68.3%) students. The head tilt angle was 60° in 415 (70.5%)
students. Multivariate logistic regression highlighted the factors associated with the occurrence of neck pain: permanent mobile internet connection (Odds ratio: 2.12 and 95% CI: 1.27 to 3.55 and
p-value: 0.004) , the level of smartphone addiction (Odds ratio: 4.65 and 95% CI: 2.66 to 8.27 for moderate addiction; Odds ratio: 9.5 and 95% CI: 5.19 to 17.7 for severe addiction and p-value: 12 hours and the level of severe to moderate smartphone addiction among students at UJKZ, the angle of inclination of the head were factors associated with the occurrence of neck pain.
Neck pain, Smartphone, Students