Postural effects of the use of touchscreen devices in a sample of young footballers: investigation and evaluation of an educational intervention

Purpose: The use of touchscreen devices has strongly increased in the last years among young people. They are nothing more than electronic equipment, but the extended use of these tools can affects the health. The continue interaction between the human body and device negatively involves physical and mental area resulting in decreased performance, social and postural diseases. In relation to postural effects, the use of smartphones and tablets must be deeply analyzed. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of portable touchscreen devices in young football players and evaluate the effects of an educational intervention on posture, compared to no treatment. Methods: A total of 193 young football players (age range: 11 – 18 years old) in Cesena, Emilia Romagna Region, were recruited from two local football teams. Since the main objective of the study was to verify whether the efficacy of an educational intervention on postural behavior during the use of smartphones and tablets, an information leaflet and a specific questionnaire were created. The questionnaire was focused on device utilization, health status and social profile in order to outline the sample features, while the leaflet provided practical advices to improve postural aspects. Subsequently, after dividing the sample into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG), all participants filled out the questionnaire before and after a 2 weeks intervention time. During this period, only the EG received the leaflet created ad hoc to provide guidelines for correct postural use of the electronic devices, while CG continued the usual behavior. Results: The questionnaire then indicated that through a self-assessment the subjects interviewed Findings show that for all three postures investigated (standing, sitting, lying), that they mostly use an incorrect posture, especially when using touchscreen devices lying on the bed/sofa (72%) and standing (70%). By then analyzing the primary question of this experimental study, i.e. the possible effectiveness of the intervention carried out through the information-corrective booklet, interesting data were obtained. The values indicate that the experimental group corrected its posture of use from the standing position of the smartphone/tablet, with +21% of correct values compared to -3% of the control group, and this result is evaluated by statistical significance by Pearson. Focusing on the problem of muscular discomfort due to an incorrect posture maintained during excessive use of smartphones/tablets, analyzing the location of the discomfort, frequency and intensity, results show that 32% of the total interviewees declare suffering from neck pain, 24% from back pain and to a lesser extent from pain in the shoulders and hands/fingers, and the frequency also reported for this variable appears to be a few days (every now and then). The average pain level indicated is 3.62 out of 10 (VAS scale). Conclusions: These findings contribute to provide a more current snapshot of the presence and invasiveness of touchscreen devices in the lives of today's adolescents through data collection on a large sample. Moreover, carrying out an educational intervention through the information-corrective booklet, it has been possible checking the usefulness and appreciation of this kind of health promotion strategy, also in a view of possible future interventions