The Association Between Time Spent on Computer Tablets and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Among Children from 3 to 12 Years Old

Abstract

Introduction

ADHD is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders in children. The worldwide prevalence is estimated to be between 2–18%. The exact cause of ADHD is still unknown, but some factors have been found to increase the risk of having ADHD like increase TV exposure time and video games.

Objectives

To study the association between time spent on computer tablets (iPads or Android tablets) by children and ADHD.

Methods

This cross sectional study targeted children from 3 to 12 years old who use computer tablets. Two non-random sampling techniques were used to distribute self-administered questionnaires to one of the caregivers of 275 children, 36 of them installed an application in their children's computer tablets that measures the actual time spent by the children. The questionnaire contains demographics, validated Arabic ADHD rating scale and questions to assess the parental attitude. The SPSS package was used for statistical analysis.

Results

The results showed that the overall prevalence of ADHD is 22.2% and it is higher in males. There is no statistically significant association between ADHD and all variables except for the time spent on computer tablets, which showed that children using computer tablets more than the average time have an increased chance of having ADHD with an odds ratio of 1.9 with 95% confidence interval from 1.08 to 3.40.

Conclusion

This study shows an association between time spent on computer tablets by children and ADHD. There is need for longitudinal studies to demonstrate the temporality and to confirm the association.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.