The Prevalence of Nomophobia by Population and by Research Tool: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression

Abstract

Background: No systematic review or meta-analysis has yet been performed to examine the global prevalence of nomophobia by population, by instrument. Thus, this review was performed to estimate the prevalence of nomophobia by severity. Methods: American Psychological Association PsycINFO, Cochrane, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), EBSCOhost, EMBASE, MEDLINE, ProQuest Medical, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception of each respective database to second week of January 2021 were used. There was no language restriction. The random-effect meta-analysis model was used with the DerSimonian and Laird methodology was used for computation. Results: Twenty papers, involving 12,462 participants from ten countries, were evaluated for meta-analysis. The prevalence of moderate to severe nomophobia is 70.76% [95% CI 62.62%; 77.75%]. The prevalence of severe nomophobia is 20.81% [95% CI 15.45%; 27.43%]. University students appeared to be the highest group affected with a prevalence of severe nomophobia 25.46% [95% CI 18.49%; 33.98%]. Meta-regressions of severe nomophobia showed that age and sex were not a successful predictor of severe nomophobia β = −0.9732, p = 0.2672 and β = −0.9732, p = 0.4986. Conclusions: The prevalence of severe nomophobia is approximately 21% in the general adult population. University students appeared to be the most impacted by the disorder.

Nomophobia is Associated with Insomnia but Not with Age, Sex, BMI, or Mobile Phone Screen Size in Young Adults

“…The condition has been linked to various mental health problems and poor functioning. 10 , 11 Nomophobia is associated with sleep problems (primarily insomnia), 6 , 12 depressive symptoms, 10 , 13 anger problems, 14 stress disorders, 5 anxiety, 5 , 10 , 13 hyperactivity and oppositional problems, 5 , 15 poor self-esteem, 16 poor quality of life, 13 , 17 and poor academic performance. 18–20 …”

“…A recent meta-analysis of twenty studies involving 12,462 participants documented that the prevalence of severe nomophobia is approximately 21% [95% CI 16%; 28%], suggesting that the societal burden of the condition is significant. 11 …”

“… 22 Consequently, the presence of a person having nomophobia cannot be assumed based on age, sex, or education. 11 , 22 …”

“… 35–37 Thus, the number of studies reporting the harmful effects of excessive mobile devices on mental and physical health is steadily increasing. 11 , 37 …”

“…8,9 The condition has been linked to various mental health problems and poor functioning. 10,11 Nomophobia is associated with sleep problems (primarily insomnia), 6,12 depressive symptoms, 10,13 anger problems, 14 stress disorders, 5 anxiety, 5,10,13 hyperactivity and oppositional problems, 5,15 poor self-esteem, 16 poor quality of life, 13,17 and poor academic performance. [18][19][20] To date, the disorder has been studied primarily in students, 13,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] especially those studying health sciences as undergraduates, mainly nursing, 28,29 in which selfesteem, extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional instability appeared to be associated with the disorder.…”