Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Nomophobia, the fear of being without a mobile phone, has become a significant concern in the current digital age. Healthcare professionals rely heavily on mobile devices for communication and information access. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of nomophobia among healthcare workers in Nepal. METHODS: A modified Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) was used to determine nomophobia scores. Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race, type of smartphone, hours spent on a smartphone, and type of medical specialty were considered to evaluate nomophobia in diverse groups of healthcare workers. Summary statistics were presented as frequencies and percentages, and all group comparisons were done using Fisher's exact test. All analyses were conducted using SPSS version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). RESULTS: A total of 519 responses were collected. Gender and age were significantly associated with nomophobia levels. For nomophobia level 1, females exhibited 72.4% (n = 63) severe and 54.7% (n = 196) moderate levels, compared to 27.6% (n = 24) and 45.3% (n = 162) for males (p = 0.002). For nomophobia level 2, 71.4% (n = 60) of females had severe levels versus 28.6% (n = 24) of males (p = 0.009). A total of 55.2% (n = 48) of severe nomophobia level 1 cases were aged 18-25 years, and 37.9% (n = 33) were aged 26-35 years (p = 0.008). Similarly, for nomophobia level 2, 47.6% (n = 40) were aged 18-25 years and 45.2% (n = 38) were aged 26-35 years (p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: The study revealed a considerable prevalence of nomophobia among healthcare workers in Nepal, with a significant impact on specific demographic groups, particularly females and individuals aged 18-25 years.