Reducing work-related screen-time in healthcare workers during leisure time (REDUCE SCREEN) – A randomized controlled trial

Background: The ubiquitous availability of work-related applications on personal devices makes healthcare workers prone to working during leisure time.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that an intervention to reduce work-related screen time during a weekend off reduces stress in healthcare workers.

Design: Pragmatic parallel design randomized controlled trial between November 2021 and November 2023.

Participants: Healthcare workers using a smartphone with a work email application were eligible.

Intervention: 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.

Methods
This dataset includes participant-provided responses of 520 healthcare workers randomized to 1:1 to no treatment or to an educational intervention aimed at reducing work-related screen time.