Abstract
Objective: To document the prevalence of
smartphone use patterns and smartphone addiction
among undergraduate university students in South
Punjab, Pakistan.
Methodology: This cross-sectional survey was
conducted on undergraduate university students of
18 – 22 years recruited through multistage cluster
random sampling technique from 2 universities of
South Punjab, Pakistan from June to August 2020.
Demographic information form and self-administered
questionnaires measured smartphone addiction and
smartphone use patterns. Data were analyzed with
SPSS version 23.
Results: Out of 621 respondents, 84.2% reported
always keeping their smartphones. Nearly one-third
(28.4%) used smartphones up to 3 hours a day, 23.3%
three to 4 hours, and 48.3% used them more than 4
hours daily. Overall, 53% of students had high use of
different smartphone patterns (interpersonal needs,
entertainment, transaction, and information-seeking),
and 51.4% scored high on the smartphone addiction
scale.
Conclusion: The frequency of high smartphone use
patterns and addiction is prevalent among
undergraduate university students. Long hours of use
and accessibility of smartphones are essential factors
that should be considered while developing preventive
measures and strategies.
Keywords: Smartphone use patterns,
