title: Ringxiety and the Mobile Phone Usage Pattern among the Students of a Medical College in South India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Technologies like mobile phones may not always work positively but they may have unforeseen adverse effects. This study was conducted to find the proportion of students who experienced ringxiety (phantom ringing) and other perceived effects, as well as the pattern of the mobile phone usage among college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, south India, among 336 medical students by using a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the total number of students, 335 students possessed mobile phones. Mostly, the persons whom they talked to on their phones were parents for 220 (51%) of the students. 48% (150) talked for less than half hour in a day and 41% (137) were high volume message users. "Ringxiety" was experienced by 34.5% (116) of the students and they were more likely to use their phones at restricted places like classrooms (99%) and libraries (60.3%). A significantly larger proportion of ringxiety sufferers also complained of hampered studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pattern of mobile phone use among the medical students appeared to be problematic, as a fairly large proportion suffered from ringxiety, they reported getting very upset and they used their phones at restricted times and places. This problem needs to be recognized, all stakeholders must be made aware of the symptoms and measures must be taken to reduce it.
authors.affiliation: Additional Professor, Department of Community Medicine, AIIMS , Bhubaneswar, Orissa- 751019 India .
authors.forename: Sonu H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Subba
authors.forename: Chetan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mandelia
authors.forename: Vaibhav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.forename: Divya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Akanksha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goel
authors.forename: Ayushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tayal
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Kondagunta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagaraj
keywords: Mobile phone; Psychological effect; Ringxiety
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