Introduction: COVID-19 period was characterized by lockdown and quarantine, the aim of this cross-sectional analytical study is to investigate the effect of COVID-19 quarantine on social media use, and its association with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among university students.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among Al-Quds University students. 317 students (average age of 20.34 years) participated in this study. A self-designed questionnaire was used to collect data which was sent to students on social media using a simple random method in almost all academic year phases.
Results: There was a statically significant increase in the following variables during quarantine compared to before (P0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in time spent on exercise before and during quarantine with average time before the quarantine of 0.80 hours to 0.7 hours during the quarantine (P>0.05). There was a statistically significant increase of severity of Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) as measured by a scale of 0-10 during the quarantine (P<0.05) in terms of severity of headache (2 to 2, 78), neck pain (2.06 to 2.80), and back pain (2.17 to 3). This increase in the three dominant MSD was positively correlated with the hours of use of laptops, computers, and mobile phones, for communication and education (P<0.05). Statistically significant negative correlation was found in between night sleeping hours and severity of MSD reported by students (P<0.05). Age was correlated with less use of social media for leisure and with more exercise (P<0.05).
StudentsConclusion: Quarantine increased the time of use of social media, and in turn increases the prevalence and severity of MSD among university
