If given the choice, 72% of Americans would opt for telehealth plus in-person visits for their healthcare, according to research conducted by Zoom.

We’ve Got a New Way for Telehealth Patients to Easily Connect to Care. Zoom blog. August 9, 2021.

 

Physicians use Zoom and other conferencing software not only for patient visits but also for a variety of other professional duties including online meetings with peers, didactics, and journal clubs, as well as work-related social events. During the pandemic, Zoom use exploded.

 

Although Zoom is not the only option for teleconferencing, the product name has recently become synonymous with video calls.

One issue that arose during the pandemic and has persisted is referred to as “Zoom fatigue.” 

 

The whys and wherefores

There are several explanations for Zoom fatigue, according to an article published in the Harvard Business Review. A key contributor is the need for constant, focused attention to absorb information from the conversation. If your attention wanders while you are teleconferencing, you have limited means to get caught back up—no helpful side conversations with a person sitting next to you, and often no easy way to ask the speaker to repeat themselves for clarification.

Fosslien L, Duffy MW. How to Combat Zoom Fatigue. Harvard Business Review. April 29, 2020.

 

 

 

Another underlying cause of the fatigue is the constant gaze from locking in visually on the screen, which can be uncomfortable and tiring over an extended period. Normally, during a live interchange, people take visual breaks, averting their eyes, glancing out a window, and so forth. But it’s difficult to divert one’s eyes from the screen during teleconferencing without appearing to be distracted and uninterested.

According to the authors of an article published in Technology, Mind, and Behavior, another stressor includes the cognitive load of consciously monitoring one’s own nonverbal behavior and making an effort to provide supplementary cues, such as exaggerated nodding to express agreement or making your voice louder to better engage the audience.

Bailenson JN. Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Cause of Zoom Fatigue. Technology, Mind, and Behavior. February 23, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000030

 

 

The authors also pointed out the possible negative impact of seeing a video image of yourself all day. 

“It is likely that a constant ‘mirror’ on Zoom causes self-evaluation and negative affect,” they wrote. “But how this changes longitudinally is an important question moving forward.”

Finally, videoconferencing is a sedentary behavior. Studies have shown that being able to move around leads to better performance in meetings.

 

Combating fatigue

To cope with Zoom fatigue, various strategies have been suggested. Not all of these can be used with patients, but they may be useful with colleagues, students, and other work-related video calls.

The Harvard Business Review article recommends the following to combat Zoom fatigue:

• Build in breaks during long calls

• Switch to email or phone calls when possible

• Engage the other party to provide more feedback to foster conversation

• Make video-based social events “opt-in”

• Reduce onscreen stimuli by disabling your camera or using plain backgrounds and asking others to do the same.

To reduce Zoom fatigue among students, instructors should be sure to use online teaching tools appropriately, according to an article published in NeuroRegulation. They can also solicit active feedback responses through polls, chat, etc, as well as by asking specific participants to speak and give feedback.

Peper E, Wilson V, Martin M, et al. Avoid Zoom fatigue, be present and learn. NeuroRegulation. 2021;8(1):47-56.