Objective  To investigate the prevalence and influencing factors of mobile phone dependence syndrome (MPDS) among college students and to provide evidences for developing effective intervention measures.

  Methods  We conducted a questionnaire survey among 3 217 students selected using cluster sampling in three colleges in Anyang city of Henan province during December 2017. The prevalence of MPDS in various student groups was described and factors related to MPDS were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression.

  Results  Of the students, 57.07% reported a monthly telephone charge of 30 – 90 RMB and 46.16% reported a mobile phone use time of 1 – 4 hours per day. The most (94.90%) of the students reported the application of mobile phone for online chat and the least (44.67%) reported the application for playing games. Totally 839 (26.08%) students were identified with MPDS and the detection rate of MPDS differed significantly by gender, majoring type, living region before entering a college, love affair, academic achievement, negative emotion, times of sport per week, relation with roommates, and average monthly living expenses (P < 0.05 for all). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that majoring, academic achievement, negative emotion, and average monthly living expenses were significant impact factors for the occurrence of MPDS (all P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Mobile phone dependence syndrome is prevalent among college students in Anyang city and related interventions on the problem should be promoted.