Fear of Missing Out and Its Association with Respiratory Symptoms in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary...

The pervasive use of short-video platforms has raised concerns about their potential psychological impact, particularly the development of Fear of Missing Out (FoMO). This exploratory cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between general FoMO and respiratory symptoms in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) who use short-video platforms.

This exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2025 among 207 patients recruited from respiratory outpatient clinics, pulmonary function laboratories, and rehabilitation departments of three tertiary hospitals in Yinchuan City using convenience sampling. Participants were assessed using the general Chinese Fear of Missing Out Scale (FoMOs) and the Breathlessness, Cough, and Sputum Scale (BCSS). Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate the association between FoMO and respiratory symptoms while adjusting for covariates.

Among the 207 patients included, average scores were 12.97 (±5.05) for FoMO and 7.86 (±2.24) for BCSS. In the multivariable model, FoMO (B = 0.079, p = 0.002), underweight BMI (<18.5 kg/m²; B = 1.191, p = 0.024), short-video exposure of 6-8 h/day (B = 1.507, p = 0.008), and anxiety (B = 0.321, p = 0.036) were significantly associated with higher BCSS scores. The model explained 24.2% of the variance in symptom severity (R² = 0.242; adjusted R² = 0.165).

Among patients with COPD who used short-form videos, FoMO showed a weak positive correlation with BCSS symptom scores. As this was a cross-sectional study, causal conclusions cannot be drawn, and further longitudinal studies are needed to validate these findings. Nevertheless, these results still suggest that incorporating psychosocial factors into the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease holds important potential value.