The Potential Eye Health Risks Associated with Smartphone Radiation Exposure Among Elementary School-Aged Children in Urban and Rural Areas in Jember-Indonesia

Abstract

Smartphones have been used widespread, and elementary school-age children are no exception. In using smartphones, they behave riskily causing eye health problems due to the emitted radiation. Children's behavior in using smartphones is estimated to be different between those in rural and urban areas. This study aimed to identify the differences in the potential eye health risks of smartphone use among elementary school-aged children in urban and rural areas. This Analytic Observational Research with Cross-sectional design involved 60 families in Jember Indonesia from an urban elementary school (Muhammadiyah 1 Jember Elementary School) and a rural elementary school (Bintoro 2 Public Elementary School), each with 30 respondents. Inclusion criteria: possessing smartphones, healthy and willing to be a respondent. The variable studied was the potential risk of eye health in the use of smartphones among elementary school-aged children. Data were collected using questionnaires with 7 open-ended questions sent to respondents via the WhatsApp application. Each question was categorized and scored as a potential risk value. The data obtained were analyzed using non-paired T-Test (=0.05). In the group of elementary school children in urban areas, the value of potential health risk was 44.71 and for rural children was 48. There was no significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). There is no difference in the risk of eye health in smartphone use between urban and rural primary school-aged children. Keywords: potential risk • eye health • smartphone • school-aged children • urban area • rural area