The impact of physical exercise on cervical spine dysfunction in college students: the mediating effect of mobile phone dependence and the regulatory effect of education level

Although there have been many studies on how regular physical exercise and reducing dependence on mobile phones can improve cervical dysfunction, there is currently a lack of model research to verify the interaction between the three. In addition, as a high-risk group for cervical spine dysfunction, college students' education level may have a moderating effect on this model, which will provide more targeted and effective suggestions for developing intervention strategies to improve cervical spine dysfunction in college students. From January 2023 to May 2023, an electronic questionnaire survey was conducted on 861 college students in the southwest region, with education levels including vocational, undergraduate, and graduate students, The survey content includes demographic information, the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), the Mobile Phone Addiction Index (MAPI), and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). The PARS-3 of college students was negatively correlated with NDI (r = -0.142, p < 0.01), PARS-3 was negatively correlated with MAPI (r = -0.09, p < 0.01), MAPI was positively correlated with NDI (r = 0.353, p < 0.01), indicating that mobile phone dependency mediated the relationship between physical exercise and cervical spine dysfunction (P < 0.01); educational level could moderate the effect of physical exercise on cervical spine dysfunction (β = -0.06, p < 0.05). The physical exercise of college students in the southwestern region of China is negatively correlated with cervical spine dysfunction and mobile phone dependency; mobile phone dependency is positively correlated with cervical spine dysfunction; mobile phone dependency plays a mediating role between physical exercise and cervical spine dysfunction; the educational level of college students can to a certain extent moderate the impact of physical exercise on cervical spine dysfunction. Those with higher baseline education levels have a greater degree of improvement in NDI through physical exercise; On the contrary, people with lower levels of education have relatively less improvement in NDI through physical exercise.