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Particularly since the start of COVID, an increasing number of healthcare professionals work through video screens to deliver care, tend to notes, complete professional training, or for correspondence. A research team led by Donald Hilty published a paper in the Journal of Internet Research detailing their six-stage scoping review of 10 databases of journal articles focused on technology, health care, and fatigue published from 2000 to 2020. Given that the goal of a scoping review is to map the body of literature in a topic area (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005), the research team’s goal for their research was to synthesize clinical, provider, administrative, business, and other workplace data to identify healthy ways that practitioners, in particular, could prevent or minimize problem associated with technology fatigue. As with other scoping reviews, this early work highlights areas of need or gaps for more systematic literature reviews. Despite the preliminary nature of the paper, early suggestions for providers and their employers are offered for ways to improve the user experience and benefit from what has more commonly become known as zoom fatigue research.
The scoping review explored answers to the question: “What is technology-based fatigue and its consequences for providers and patients?” To do so, they searched for articles that addressed the relationship between technology, fatigue, and health care.
Review of “Zoom Fatigue” Research
In reviewing the literature to find related articles, the researchers reported that fatigue is discussed as a “very complex and multidimensional construct” that consistently points to the issue of perceived effort. Even across the discreet fields of cognitive science, exercise physiology, and clinical practice, fatigue accounts for interindividual differences and situational…
