New research published online in Neurology Clinical Practice has found that smartphone use is associated with primary headaches, driving people to use pain relievers.
Researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) found that nearly 96 percent of people with severe headaches associated with the smartphone use took pain medications.
The researchers also found that people who have headaches after using smartphones reported that they experienced less pain relief even after taking analgesics.
Study author Dr. Deepti Vibha from AIIMS said, “While these results need to be confirmed with larger and more rigorous studies, the findings are concerning, as smartphone use is growing rapidly and has been linked to a number of symptoms, with headache being the most common.”
The authors noted that smartphone technology has been advancing at a rapid rate and excessive use of these devices is raising health concerns.
However, they said there is a “paucity of evidence on the association of primary headache and smartphone use.”
Speaking to Medscape Medical News, Dr. Vibha said she was motivated to conduct the study because previous studies have shown some link between smartphone use and headaches. She said she has seen patients and their families complaining of increased headaches with smartphone use.
The researchers looked at 400 participants aged 14 or above with primary headaches, which include tension headache, migraine, and other types of headaches.
The participants were divided into two groups – smartphone users (206) and non-smartphone users (194). Smartphone users were further subdivided into low and high smartphone users.
The primary objective of the study was to investigate the link between smartphone usage and new-onset headache, also called primary headache, which became chronic or got aggravated.
The researchers found that most smartphone users experienced primary headaches, which forced them to take pain relievers. And most of the participants reported that they experienced less relief even after taking the medications.
