IJCM_342A: Nomophobia and its Relationship with Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Undergraduate Medical Students Of Murshidabad Medical College, West Bengal: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: The study aimed to estimate the magnitude of nomophobia, prevalence and degree of depression, anxiety and stress; the relationship between nomophobia and different mental health status; and also finding the correlates of nomophobia among undergraduate medical students. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken in Murshidabad Medical College during September-November 2023, among a calculated sample of 222 undergraduate medical students selected through stratified random sampling. A self-reported English questionnaire comprising background characteristics, smartphone use related characteristics; and validated nomophobia questionnaire (NMP-Q) and depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS) were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. Results: Among the study participants 13.1%, 72.1% and 14.8% had mild, moderate and severe nomophobia respectively. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress were 54.5%, 69.4% and 37.4% respectively. Multivariable binary logistic regression revealed that students aged less than 21 years (AOR: 6.088; 95% CI: 2.053- 18.055), students belonging to joint family (AOR: 6.836; 95% CI: 2.392-19.537) and daily average time spent on smartphone more than 5 hours (AOR:5.314; 95% CI: 1.919-14.721) were at higher risk of developing severe nomophobia. Correlation analysis revealed depression was significantly correlated with Nomophobia (Spearman rho:0.200, p value:0.003). Conclusion: Nomophobia is quite prevalent among medical students with varying degree of severity. Mental health status specially depression is correlated with nomophobia. Findings suggests the need for supporting the holistic well-being of medical students through proper health education strategies and workshops on mental health.