Health & body · 2010
Can you feel a phone or pager vibrate when it isn't vibrating?
Yes—medical staff reported this in a survey at one academic medical centre. Of the 169 who answered the question, 115 (68%) said they had experienced it. These were self-reported experiences, not experimentally verified sensations, and the percentage does not necessarily apply to all phone or pager users.
Details
Researchers surveyed medical staff about their device use and experiences of feeling vibrations when their phone or pager was not vibrating. Of 232 staff invited, 176 responded. The central finding was that 68% of those answering the relevant question reported having experienced this sensation.
Reports were more common among resident physicians than attending physicians, and among people carrying their device in a breast pocket rather than on a belt. Longer carrying times and more frequent use of vibrate mode were also associated with reporting the sensation. The survey measured habits and reported experiences at one point in time, so it cannot establish whether those habits caused the sensations. Its findings also may not extend beyond staff at this medical centre.
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