Reducing Work-Related Screen-Time in Healthcare Workers During Leisure Time (REDUCE SCREEN) – A Randomized Controlled Trial

TL;DR

A study found that reducing work-related screen time during leisure time lowered stress in healthcare workers.

Contribution

A three-part educational intervention reduced work-related screen time and stress during non-work weekends.

Findings

The intervention group had a greater reduction in stress scores compared to controls.

Reduced screen time mediated the stress reduction in the intervention group.

Stress reduction was doubled in the intervention group during non-work weekends.

Abstract

The ubiquitous availability of work-related applications on personal devices makes healthcare workers prone to working during leisure time. We tested the hypothesis that an intervention to reduce work-related screen time during a weekend off reduces stress in healthcare workers in a pragmatic parallel design randomized controlled trial between November 2021 and November 2023. Healthcare workers using a smartphone with a work email application were eligible. Randomization was 1:1 to no treatment or a threefold educational intervention to: 1) activate automated responses to emails received, 2) reduce screen time, and 3) uninstall work applications from personal devices. The primary outcome was the change in participants’ stress from pre- to post-weekend, measured with the Perceived Stress Scale-10. The secondary outcome was device screen time. Among 815 enrolled participants, 520 responded to the post-intervention survey. The median [Q1, Q3] change from baseline Perceived Stress Scale-10 scores was -2 [-7, 0] in controls and -4 [-9, 0] in the intervention group. The mean difference (intervention – control) in post-intervention Perceived Stress Scale-10 scores, adjusted for baseline stress, was -1.6 (95% CI: -2.6, -0.6; P = 0.002). The median [Q1, Q3] change from baseline screen time was 0 [-2, 1] hours in the controls and -1 [-3, 0] hours in the intervention group. A three-pronged educational intervention targeting work-related screen time among healthcare workers doubled stress reduction during a non-work weekend. Stress reduction in the intervention group was mediated by reduced screen time. Future research should investigate long-term effects and broader implementation of such interventions to promote well-being in the healthcare workforce. Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05106647. Identifier: NCT05106647, Registration date: November 4, 2021.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10916-026-02338-9.

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