Excessive Screen Time Among Indian Doctors Raises Health Concerns, Study Finds

“The study highlights the specific patterns of digital screen usage among healthcare professionals, a demographic often overlooked in prior research. It provides insights into the reasons behind screen time usage—ranging from academic purposes to entertainment—and raises awareness about the detrimental health effects associated with prolonged digital device engagement,” the study author Dr Raju Vaishya, Senior Consultant Orthopaedic & Joint Replacement Surgeon, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, told Medical Dialogues.

Advances in Information and Communication Technology and digital innovation have transformed healthcare, integrating devices like smartphones and tablets to enhance efficiency and streamline care. However, excessive digital screen time poses health risks, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, and attention disorders. While the use of digital technologies among healthcare professionals has been studied, patterns of usage across specialties in different health systems, such as the UK and India, remain unexplored.

Dr Rajesh Botchu from Royal Orthopedic Hospital in Birmingham, UK, and Dr Raju Vaishya along with their team, conducted an online cross-sectional survey. The survey comprised an 11-part questionnaire, featuring multiple-choice and free-text questions. It was shared with orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, and physicians in India and the UK to evaluate their demographics, specialties, practice settings, reasons for digital platform usage, time spent, and its impact on their mental health, physical health, and sleep patterns.

The study reveals the following findings:

• Smartphones were the most commonly used device for digital screening, utilized by 90 doctors (67.7%), with 29 doctors (38.5%) reporting daily screen time exceeding five hours.
• Sixty-three doctors (47%) primarily used digital devices for academic purposes, while 43 doctors (32%) used them more for entertainment than academics.
• Thirty-nine doctors (29%) were uncertain about the impact of screen usage on mental health.
• Seventy-two doctors (53%) believed screen usage negatively impacted their physical health, while 81 doctors (60%) felt it adversely affected their sleep time.

“There is a significant prevalence of excessive digital screen time among healthcare professionals, particularly physicians, surgeons, and radiologists. The findings reveal that a large proportion of doctors are spending more than the recommended daily limits on digital devices, with a notable number reporting adverse effects on their physical health and sleep quality. Specifically, a substantial 67.7% identified smartphones as their primary digital device, and 60% acknowledged that increased screen time negatively influenced their sleep”, the study author Dr.Vaishya explained.

Highlighting specific recommendations to reduce the negative effects of screen time on healthcare professionals, co-author Dr Rajesh Botchu emphasized, “This study serves as a wake-up call for healthcare systems to promote sustainable practices. Simple measures, such as encouraging screen breaks, limiting after-hours digital work, and using tools like blue light filters, can mitigate some of these effects. As doctors strive to care for others, it is essential to ensure they are not compromising their well-being in the process.”

Dr Botchu also pointed out the need for more research to understand the effects of digital screen time on healthcare professionals, saying, “ Further speciality-specific studies assessing screen time impact across different medical specialities to identify tailored interventions. One needs to consider the effect of how cultural and healthcare system differences influence screen time habits and health outcomes too. Studies assessing the effect of the intervention, strategies to mitigate the effect of screen time like blue light glasses or screen time restrictions, on improving health outcomes.”

Reference: Chapala S, Hussein M, Shirodkar K, Iyengar KP, Vaishya R, Botchu R. Digital Screen Usage Amongst Doctors: Demographics, Patterns of Use and Effect of Health Parameters. Apollo Medicine. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/09760016241290354