INTRODUCTION: 
Use of smart phone, which has become an integral activity of 
daily life now, has begun to show subtle untoward effects on 
health. Various health related problems associated with 
electronic devices, especially smart phones, use are being 
studied. Phantom ringing & Vibration syndrome is one such 
adverse effect, which is an auditory hallucination seen in 
mobile phone users when they feel that their phone is ringing 
when it is actually not. To the best of our knowledge and 
literature search, we could not nd any Indian study on 
phantom ringing & vibration syndrome in rst year MBBS 
students. This study was conducted to determine the 
prevalence of phantom ringing & Vibration syndrome and to 
nd the factors associated with it.

METHODS: 
This was a prospective, cross-sectional questionnaire based 
study, conducted in rst year  A 7-item validated 
questionnaire was administered to 100 participants & were 
analyzed 

RESULTS: 
Out of 100 respondents, 95 per cent of them say that they've 
experienced these phantom vibrations.83 per cent of them say 
they've experienced this phantom ringing.Both the syndrome 
occurs more in students who kept their cell phone in shirt or 
paint pocket than to who kept mobile in handbag.85% of 
students felt vibration or ringing even when the phone is 
switched off

DISCUSSION:
Phantom ringing syndrome is the belief that your phone is 
ringing when it actually isn't, and repeatedly checking. It is 
also called ringxiety, a term coined by psychologist David 
Laramie, and linked to phantom vibration syndrome – the 
mistaken sensation that your phone is vibrating when in your 
pocket, is caused by 'learned bodily habits.' 'Through bodily 
habit, your phone actually becomes a part of you, and you 
become trained to perceive the phone's vibrations as an 
incoming call or text,' So, due to these kinds of habits, it 
becomes really easy to misperceive other similar sensations. It 
may be considered as normal brain mechanism (1)

Phantom vibration syndrome is a sensory hallucination. 
Phantom Vibration Syndrome were common in medical staffs 
who used electronic devices (2)

Neurodevelopment changes associated with the hypoth 
alamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been investigated 
as mechanisms of auditory hallucination. Phantom vibration 
was more prevalent than phantom ringing syndrome.Stress in 
medical studies is reason for this syndrome.

There may be a relation between this syndrome and 
emotional symptoms with burnout syndrome.

Mohammadbeigi [ ] reported a higher female prevalence for 3
vibration and male prevalence for ringing; other studies did 
not nd differences across genders (taking vibration and 
ringing together

The cause of phantom vibrations is not known. ... It has been 
suggested that, when anticipating a phone call, the cerebral 
cortex may misinterpret other sensory input (such as muscle 
contractions, pressure from clothing, or music) as a phone 
vibration or ring tone.

Medical students are “just so anxious these days, because of 
all of our different technologies”, which include emails and 
text messages, “keep them on edge.” & inclined to be jumpy 
and feel something in our pocket as a phantom vibration," 

CONCLUSIONS: 
The prevalence rate of phantom vibration in our study was 
95% & phantom ringing was 85%, which occurs irrespective of 
gender, age, profession, and physical location, duration and 
mode of phone use. It would be interesting to nd exact site of 
involvement, in auditory circuit; by BERA studies. Phantom 
Ringing Syndrome is common among medical students who 
use mobile phones

REFERENCES:
1. Goyal AK. Studies on Phantom Vibration and Ringing Syndrome among 

Postgraduate Students. Indian J Comm Health. 2015; 27, 1: 35-40.
2.   M B Rothberg, Phantom vibration syndrome among medical staff: a cross 

sectional survey; BMJ 2010;341:c6914
3.  Mohammadbeigi A, Mohammadsalehi N, Moshiri E, Anbari Z, Ahmadi A, 

Ansari H. The prevalence of phantom vibration/ringing syndromes and their 
related factors in Iranian' students of medical sciences. Asian J Psychiatr. 
2017;27:76–80. pmid:28558902

STUDY OF PHANTOM RINGING & VIBRATION SYNDROME IN FIRST 
YEAR INDIAN MEDICAL GRADUATE STUDENTS

Original Research Paper

Naik Anshuman
Associate Professor, Department Of Physiology Hi-tech Medical College, 
Rourkela, Odisha

  X 15GJRA - GLOBAL JOURNAL FOR RESEARCH ANALYSIS

Physiology

INTRODUCTION: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of phantom ringing & Vibration 
syndrome and to nd the factors associated with it. .

METHODS: validated questionnaire was administered to 100 participants & were analysed. Results:  95 per cent of them say that 
they've experienced these phantom vibrations. 83 per cent of them say they've experienced this phantom ringing. 
CONCLUSION:It would be interesting to nd exact site of involvement, in auditory circuit

ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS : Indian Medical Graduate, Mbbs, First Year, Phantom Ringing, Phantom Vibration, Smart Phone

Patel Shashikala*
Associate Professor, Department Of Anatomy Hi-tech Medical College, 
Rourkela, Odisha *Corresponding Author

VOLUME-9, ISSUE-1, JANUARY-2020 • PRINT ISSN No. 2277 - 8160 • DOI : 10.36106/gjra