A systematic review on nomophobia prevalence: Surfacing results and standard guidelines for future research

Mobile phones allow us to stay connected with others and provide us a sense of security. We can work, chat with family and friends, take pictures, buy clothes or books, and even control home appliances. They play such a significant role in our lives that we feel anxious without them. In some cases, the relationship between humans and these communication devices have become problematic. Nomophobia (NMP) is the fear of becoming incommunicable, separated from the mobile phone and losing connection to the Internet. Since this social phobia was coined in the first decade of the XXI century, a growing number of studies have studied it and reported the prevalence of this technology-related problem. However, this research activity has generated mixed results regarding how we assess and report nomophobia and who may be at a higher risk of suffering or developing it.

We conducted a systematic review of 108 studies published in English and Spanish and collected them in Parsifal. We searched for assessment and prevalence data on nomophobia. Also, we looked at gender and age differences to identify risk factors and see if these differences exist and emerge worldwide.