Survey: Virtually All Healthcare Providers Meet Criteria for Nomophobia

NEW YORK CITY — Over 99% of global healthcare providers (HCPs) met some level of criteria for nomophobia, otherwise known as “no mobile phone phobia” or a fear of being without your phone.

As measured by the Nomophobia Questionnaire, 64.2% met criteria for moderate nomophobia, 19.8% for severe, and 15.6% for mild, Aakanksha Singh, MBBS, of the Global Remote Research Scholars Program in St. Paul, Minnesota, reported at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.

“[These findings] indicate that everybody had some form of nomophobia,” Singh told MedPage Today, adding that she was “absolutely surprised” by the responses.

The hallmark of nomophobia is restlessness, worry, or anxiety one feels without their screen, either mobile or computer. The consequences of nomophobia can manifest in decreased focus at work, stress, and insomnia. “It’s definitely different from an addiction,” she said.

Certain behaviors are linked with nomophobia, like waking in the middle of the night and checking your phone, waking and immediately checking your phone, using screen time as a substitute for physical or recreational activity, or using your phone instead of spending time with family, Singh noted.

Some of these daily habits enhance nomophobia, she added. While this isn’t a particularly dangerous phenomenon, Singh highlighted the burden that HCPs carry in needing to stay digitally connected.

“As healthcare workers, we use a lot of screens for medical charts, or communicating diagnoses, or sharing our diagnosis with another physician,” she said. “The whole electronic medical system is based on screens.”

Because of this, she recommended HCPs try to take a “digital detox” on their days off. “Maybe you try to do a whole day without phones,” she said. “[Put] limits on your social media use. When you’re sitting at the dining table, don’t use your phone. Family time, don’t use your phone. Little interventions like this could probably limit our time … and reduce our dependency on our own like our reliance on our smartphones.”

The study included 12,253 HCP survey respondents across 105 countries. Most were in the 26-35 age group (38%), followed by those 18-25 years old (30.6%), and those ages 36-45 (17.5%). Most HCPs were South Asian (36%), while 14% were Latin American, 13.2% were Black, and 11% were white.

Most respondents were internists (1,879), followed by surgeons (833), nurses (549), dentists (445), radiologists (355), or psychiatrists/psychologists (226). Most HCPs had 2-5 years of clinical experience (26.8%), 18.9% had 6-10 years, and 16.2% had 11-20 years of experience.

Around 60% were female and 40% were male. Female HCPs did not have significantly higher odds for moderate-severe nomophobia compared with males (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.95-1.16).

Compared with HCPs who used their phones for less than 3 hours a day for personal or work-related use, those who used their phone for 3-6 hours a day had significantly higher odds of moderate-severe nomophobia:

• 3 to 6 hours of personal use: OR 3.40 (95% CI 2.98-3.80)
• 3 to 6 hours for work use: OR 1.50 (95% CI 1.30-1.70)

The odds of nomophobia were higher for those who used their phones more than 6 hours per day.

In a subanalysis, Singh’s group looked at 2,540 responses from medical students and found that 12.6%, 67.6%, and 19.6% met criteria for mild, moderate, and severe nomophobia, respectively — percentages that were generally in line with the larger HCP community.

A total of 53.3% of medical students said they used their phone for work more than 2 hours each day. Almost a third said they also used their phone for personal use over 4 hours each day.

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