Using your phone while on the can could mean a higher risk of haemorrhoids.

This is according to new research that compared the lavatory “habits” of smartphone users to those of non-users.

The survey involving 125 people was carried out by a team of doctors and scientists at institutions including Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Cleveland Clinic in the United States.

“Time spent on the toilet was significantly higher for smartphone users than non-users,” the team found.

Reading news and using social media were the most commonly-reported smartphone activities among those with throne-hogging tendencies.

“The findings of this study suggest there is an increased prevalence of haemorrhoids among people who use smartphones while sitting on the toilet,” the researchers said in the paper published by the PLOS One science and medical journal.

Almost four in 10 phone users spend more than five minutes on the toilet, going by the survey, with only 7% of non-users admitting to lingering as long.

“Smartphone use may inadvertently prolong toilet time, potentially increasing pressure in anal tissues, which may then lead to haemorrhoids,” the team warned, explaining that they carried out the survey in the wake of anecdotal evidence of phone addicts being more likely to suffer from haemorrhoids than others.

“It’s incredibly easy to lose track of time when we’re scrolling on our smartphones – popular apps are designed entirely for that purpose,” said BIDMC Gut-Brain Institute Clinical and Translational director and author of the book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong Dr Trisha Pasricha.

Known for her Ask A Doctor column in The Washington Post, Dr Pasricha’s advice is to “leave the smartphones outside” when visiting the loo.

Phone addiction has been linked to insomnia and anxiety in other recently-published research, while other warnings have tied the proliferation of spam, scams and malware as another potential cause of mental health troubles for phone users. – dpa