Prevalence of De-Quervain Tenosynovitis and It's Association with Smart Phone Use Among Medical and Healthcare Students of Mirpurkhas
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Background: Smartphone-related thumb activity may contribute to wrist symptoms, but associations with findings suggestive of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis remain uncertain. Objective: To determine the frequency of positive provocative wrist-test findings and their association with smartphone-use characteristics among medical and healthcare students in Mirpurkhas. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 250 students recruited through convenience sampling at Bhitai Group of Colleges and Ibn-E-Sina University, Mirpurkhas, during January–June 2023. A self-administered questionnaire assessed phone use and functional difficulty, alongside a provocative wrist assessment. Analyses included frequencies, Wilson confidence intervals, Pearson’s chi-square and conditional exact tests, Cramér’s V, and Holm adjustment for six functional comparisons. Results: Participants were predominantly female (63.2%) and aged 18–22 years (79.2%). Positive wrist-test findings occurred in 165 participants (66.0%; 95% CI: 59.9–71.6%). Test status was not significantly associated with daily phone-use duration (p = 0.965), message frequency (p = 0.054), device type (p = 0.875), estimated weight (p = 0.370), or typing speed (p = 0.633). Initial associations with selected functional activities did not remain significant after Holm adjustment. Conclusion: Positive provocative wrist-test findings were common, but the assessed smartphone-use characteristics were not significantly associated with test status. These findings do not establish clinically confirmed disease or causation
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