Nomophobia among Nurses in Northeast of Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study (2022)

Background:The role of cell phones becomes more prominent every day; however, excessive use leads to high dependency.Nomophobia is a type of phobia in which the patient experiences severe anxiety and worry while away from a mobile phone.The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Nomophobia in nurses of Educational-Medical Hospitals in Gorgan City in 2022.Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional, 412 nurses of educational and medical hospitals in Gorgan city, Iran, 2022 were enrolled.A demographic information checklist and a Nomophobia questionnaire were used to collect data.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 18, U-Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.P-value values less than 0.05 were considered significant Results: Most nurses were moderate Nomophobia (55.1%).There was a significant relationship between Nomophobia and age, marital status, number of active social messaging software, duration of mobile phone use, and the number of phone checks per day.Such findings were also observed for subscales, including lack of access to information, loss of comfort and convenience, inability to communicate, and loss of connection with some considered features. Conclusion:The present study showed moderate levels of Nomophobia and cell phone dependence in nurses of Gorgan Educational-Medical Hospitals in Gorgan City.Young and single people who spend more time on mobile phones, have more social messaging software, and check their cell phones more often are more likely to have Nomophobia.