Perception of Purposeful and Recreational Smartphone Use in Physiotherapy: Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Health Psychology
• Clinical Practice

Background:

• Smartphone use is prevalent in daily life, extending into professional and therapeutic settings.
• Both patients and healthcare providers engage in smartphone use, sometimes without clear purpose during treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of purposeful versus recreational smartphone use on perceptions within physiotherapy.
• To evaluate how physiotherapist and patient smartphone engagement affects perceived attentiveness and treatment quality.

Main Methods:

• An online randomized controlled trial involving 118 participants.
• Participants viewed videos of physiotherapy sessions with varied smartphone use: purposeful, recreational by therapist, recreational by patient, or none.
• Post-video assessments measured perceptions of therapist competence, empathy, attentiveness, and general smartphone utility in physiotherapy.

Main Results:

• Purposeful smartphone use by physiotherapists led to higher ratings of professional competence, social competence, and empathy.
• Recreational smartphone use by either the physiotherapist or patient significantly decreased perceived attentiveness.
• Overall, purposeful smartphone use was rated more positively than recreational use or no use.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone use in physiotherapy is beneficial only when directly related to therapeutic goals.
• Non-therapeutic smartphone engagement by therapists or patients should be avoided during treatment sessions.
• Clear guidelines on appropriate smartphone use in clinical settings are warranted.