Gadget addiction among school-going children and its association to cognitive function: a cross-sectional survey from Bangladesh

Abstract

BackgroundPeople are becoming more dependent on technology than ever before. Today’s children and adults are heavily plugged into electronics, which raises concerns for their physical and cognitive development. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the relationship between media usage and cognitive function among school-going children.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in 11 schools in 3 of Bangladesh’s most populous metropolitan areas: Dhaka, Chattogram and Cumilla. A semistructured questionnaire with three sections was used to obtain data from the respondents: (1) background information, (2) PedsQL Cognitive Functioning Scale and (3) Problematic Media Use Measure Short Form. Stata (V.16) was used for statistical analysis. Mean and SD were used to summarise quantitative variables. Qualitative variables were summarised using frequency and percentage. The χ2test was used to explore bivariate association between categorical variables, and a binary logistic regression model was fit to investigate the factors associated with the cognitive function of the study participants after adjusting for confounders.ResultsThe mean age of total of 769 participants was 12.0±1.8 years, and the majority (67.31%) were females. The prevalence of high gadget addiction and poor cognitive function was 46.9% and 46.5%, respectively, among the participants. After adjusting the factors, this study found a statistically significant relationship (adjusted OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7) between gadget addiction and cognitive function. In addition, the duration of breast feeding was a predictor of cognitive function as well.ConclusionThis study found digital media addiction as a predictor of decreased cognitive performance in children who use digital gadgets regularly. Although the cross-sectional design of the study precludes causal relationships from being determined, the study finding deserves further examination via longitudinal research.

Prevalence and factors associated with digital addiction among students taking university entrance tests: a GIS-based study

“…Another study conducted in Turkiye’s Mediterranean region among 297 high school students from four institutes reported that the mean score of digital game addiction was 63.71 ± 20.62 [ 28 ]. When to the prevalence of digital addiction, that was 33.1% in the present study, which is slightly lower than a recently conducted Bangladeshi study of 769 children aged 8–14 years reported 46.9% had high gadget addiction [ 11 ]. In addition, there is a growing prevalence of digital addiction globally, as estimated by a recent meta-analysis [ 1 ].…”

“…In Bangladesh, a number of studies have been carried out assessing different types of digital addiction among different student populations. In most of the studies assessing problematic internet or smartphone use, university students have been prioritized for consideration as the study population [ 7 – 9 ], whereas a few studies were conducted among adolescent students [ 10 , 11 ]. Of the studies among adolescent students, Islam et al [ 10 ] provide insight into internet addiction and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, where their prevalence rates were found to be 88.25% and 72.51% respectively.…”

“…Of the studies among adolescent students, Islam et al [ 10 ] provide insight into internet addiction and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, where their prevalence rates were found to be 88.25% and 72.51% respectively. Another study conducted afterward found a significant relationship between gadget addiction and cognitive function, suggesting that digital media addiction can negatively impact cognitive performance [ 11 ]. However, no studies have ever been conducted among students transitioning from high school to university.…”

Nutritional status, dietary habits, and their relation to cognitive functions: A cross-sectional study among the school aged (8–14 years) children of Bangladesh

“…Part 1 included questions about age, gender, residence, family type, family income, parental education status, birth order and delivery method during birth, EPI vaccination status, duration of breastfeeding, and deworming status. Sections 2 and 3 contained the PedsQL TM Cognitive Functioning Scale [ 19 , 20 ], and a 39-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) [ 21 ], respectively. Both of these questionnaires were pre-validated and were used to evaluate cognitive functions and dietary intakes, respectively.…”

“…The PedsQL TM Cognitive Functioning Scale consists of six questions. This scale was developed through focus group discussions, cognitive interviews, pre-testing, and field-testing measurement development techniques which was used in one of our prior studies [ 22 , 23 ]. A five-point likert scale was used to assess this scale, with 0 denoting never, 1 denoting nearly never, 2 denoting sometimes, 3 denoting often, and 4 denoting almost always.…”