title: Gender difference in mobile phone use and the impact of digital device exposure on neck posture.
abstract: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify gender differences in the cervical postures when young adults were using mobile phones, as well as the correlations between the postures and the digital devices use (computer and mobile phone). Questionnaires regarding the habits of computer and mobile phone use were administrated to 429 subjects aged from 17 to 33 years old (19.75 ± 2.58 years old). Subjects were instructed to stand habitually and use a mobile phone as in daily life; the sagittal head and cervical postures were measured by head flexion, neck flexion angle and gaze angle. Male participants had a significantly larger head flexion angle (96.41° ± 12.23° vs. 93.57° ± 12.62°, p  =  0.018) and neck flexion angle (51.92°  ±  9.55° vs. 47.09° ± 9.45°, p  <  0.001) than females. There were significant differences in head (F  =  3.62, p  =  0.014) and neck flexion (F  =  3.99, p  =  0.009) between different amounts of computer use. Practitioner Summary: We investigated possible gender differences in head and neck postures of young adults using mobile phones, as well as the potential correlations between these postures and digital device use. We found that males displayed larger head and neck flexion angles than females, which were associated with the amount of computer use.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Guoxin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Zhengqi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: b Department of Regenerative Medicine , Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Hailong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Annan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Guangfei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Xinbo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Shisheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D034201:Computers, Handheld / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D011187:Posture; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012737:Sex Factors; D000068997:Smartphone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013131:Spine; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Forward head posture; gender; mobile phone use; neck pain