Could cellphone use be a new vital sign?

A recent study suggests cellphone usage at the emergency room during the initial assessment could be a predictor of their outcomes.The study, published in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine on Nov. 22, looked at 292 patients who presented to an ER in Minnesota between September 2021 and August 2022. Scribes who were trained in data collection recorded data on patient phone usage during their initial assessment and the researchers looked at whether these patients were admitted to the hospital or discharged.“To evaluate patient cell phone use, the scribe walked by the entrance of the room and recorded cellphone use prior to entering. Subsequently, the scribe visually identified if a patient was using a cellphone as the provider entered the room. The data were analyzed to determine the frequency of cellphone use by patients during a provider-patient encounter,” the researchers explained in the study.Of the 32 patients who were actively using the phones, only two were admitted to hospital, which meant the discharge rate was 94%. Meanwhile, among the 259 patients who did not use their phones, the discharge rate was 64%. The authors say the findings suggest a potential association between cellphone use and ER discharge rates and say this may be because patients engaged with their phones “present with less severe symptoms or feel well enough to use their devices, indicating a lower acuity level.”“Alternatively, cellphone use could distract from symptom reporting, influencing clinicians’ perceptions of patient stability. This correlation could influence triage practices, highlighting the need for further research to understand the underlying reasons and implications for patient care,” they wrote.The authors also speculate cellphone use could lead to “unconscious bias by providers,” causing them to discharge patients if they observe a patient using their phone and incorrectly conclude that their condition is clinically stable.“Further research, such as evaluating the 72-hour bounce-back rate for this cohort compared with patients who do not use cellphones, will be important to better understand the implications,” the researchers wrote.

Could cellphone use be a new vital sign?

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