Smartphone addiction in the university environment in Morocco

Despite the meteoric increase in smartphone users and the problems associated with its excessive use the latter has been the subject of a limited number of studies. This is a cross-sectional study; qualitative quantified via an online survey. The assessment of addiction was only possible using the SAS/SAV measurement scale. 165 students were interviewed. 50% of the students had an addiction score of 32 or higher and 50% had a score of 32 or lower. The average addiction score was 33.10% with a variation in the level of addiction by age as students between the ages of 18 and 25 are the most addicted. Duration of possession (0.097 [0.012; 0.775] p=0.28) sleep disorder (0.333 [0.175; 0.636] p=0.001) nervousness (0.366 [0.195 ; 0.689] p=0.002) daily use (3.246 [1.226; 8.596] p=0.018) and phantom sign (0.421 [0.214; 0.827] p=0.012) were associated with smartphone addiction in these students.The study revealed a female predominance of addiction due to the fact that women are communicative beings who mostly use the smartphone to stimulate their social interactions and for entertainment.