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Keywords: Meta-analysis, mobile phone abuse, mobile phone addiction, smartphone addiction, smartphones abuse, systematic-review.

There is a considerable debate on addiction and abuse to Smartphone among adolescents and its consequent impact on their health; not only in a global context, but also specifically in the Indian population; considering that Smartphone's, globally occupy more than 50% of mobile phones market and more precise quantification of the associated problems is important to facilitate understanding in this field. As per PRISMA (2009) guidelines, extensive search of various studies in any form from a global scale to the more narrow Indian context using two key search words: “Smartphone's addiction” and “Indian adolescents” was done using websites of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, Global Health, Psyc-INFO, Biomed-Central, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, world library - World-Cat, Indian libraries such as National Medical Library of India from 1 January, 1995 to March 31, 2014 first for systematic-review. Finally, meta-analysis on only Indian studies was done using Med-Calc online software capable of doing meta-analysis of proportions. A total of 45 articles were considered in systematic-review from whole world; later on 6 studies out of these 45 related to Smartphone's addiction in India were extracted to perform meta-analysis, in which total 1304 participants (range: 165-335) were enrolled. The smartphone addiction magnitude in India ranged from 39% to 44% as per fixed effects calculated (P < 0.0001). Smartphone addiction among Indian teens can not only damage interpersonal skills, but also it can lead to significant negative health risks and harmful psychological effects on Indian adolescents.

ABSTRACT

Smartphone's addiction emerging in Indian adolescents

A majority of adolescents from lower socioeconomic background in whole world; are not untouched by the effects by the widely available and cheaper Smartphone. Adolescents under 15 are also affected, in India and around the world. Moreover, little research has been conducted about smartphone use and its consequences. Considering the high rate of smartphone use among Indian adolescents, this area needs to be further explored, with a focus on what roles technology plays in fostering fantasies, acting out behaviors. Authors therefore aimed to explore problems emerging with this technology among Indian adolescents, so that best prevention and treatment strategies can be worked out-this is the prime reason why the authors have chosen and analyzed this area by meta-analysis and systematic-review of studies in this article.