Associations Between Mobile Phone Use And Well-being In Students In Southwestern China

Objective: With the incorporation of modern electronic products into daily life, children and adolescents now have a longer lifetime exposure to mobile phone. China has developed into one of the world’s largest mobile phone markets. As today?s children and adolescents frequently use mobile phone and other communication tools in their homes, community environments and at school, they have longer exposure time to mobile phone. Moreover, making calls, sending messages, surfing the internet and playing games on mobile phone are very common in children and adolescents? lives, as is the wide use of smart phones. With the increasing use of mobile phone, concerns have been raised in a number of countries about the adverse health effects of mobile phone use on children and adolescents. The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones(IEGMP) reported:(1) children are likely to be more vulnerable to potentially hazardous agents than adults due to their developing nervous systems,(2) because of the anatomical reasons, such as smaller heads, thinner skulls and higher tissue conductivity of their brains, children may absorb more energy from mobile phone than do adults, and(3) for their earlier and longer exposure to mobile phone, children will tend to accumulate a greater risk of detrimental health effects caused by mobile phone. Additionally, World Health Organization(WHO) has identified studies on the potential health effects of mobile phone in children and adolescents as a high priority research area in their research agenda for radiofrequency fields. Although there have been several studies on the associations between mobile phone use and well-being in children and adolescents, the results were still controversial. Our present study investigated the possible association between mobile phone use and well-being in Chinese children and adolescents using population-based cross-sectional design.Methods: ① A total of 793 fifth grade pupils from 2 primary schools registered in Chongqing, China were invited to participate in the first stage of the cross-sectional study. The questionnaires were completed in class with items regarding demographics, mobile phone usage, self-reported well-being(symptoms were taken from the questionnaire of the Health behaviour in School-Aged Children survey) and possible confounding factors between October 2011 and May 2012. Data were analyzed using Chi-square tests and logistic regression models. ② A total of 7720 adolescents from 4 middle schools registered in Southwestern China were involved in the second stage of the cross-sectional study. Inattention was assessed as defined for the Attention Deficit component of Attention deficit/Hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(4th ed., text rev. [DSM-IV-TR]). The demographic characteristics and information on mobile phone use were included in the questionnaire. Chi-square tests and logistic regression models were used to analyze the data.Results: ① In total, 746(94.07%) valid questionnaires were received in the first stage of the cross-sectional study. Fatigue was significantly associated with the years of mobile phone usage(OR 1.85; 95% CI 1.07-3.22) and the daily duration of mobile phone calls(OR 2.98; 95% CI 1.46-6.12). Headache was significantly associated with the daily duration of mobile phone calls(OR 2.85; 95% CI 1.23-6.57). However, after adjusting for confounders only the association between fatigue and mobile phone usage remained statistically significant. There was no significant association between mobile phone use and other physical symptoms in children. ② There were altogether 7102(91.99%) valid questionnaires obtained in the second stage of the cross-sectional study. After adjusted for confounders, inattention in adolescents was significantly associated with mobile phone ownership, the time spent on entertainment on mobile phone per day, the position of the mobile phone during the day and the mode of the mobile phone at night. The strongest association between inattention and the time spent on the mobile phone was among students who spent more than 60 minutes per day playing on their mobile phone.Conclusion: ① In general, the results in the present study indicated some significant associations between mobile phone use and well-being in Chinese students. ② Fatigue in children was consistently significantly associated with mobile phone use either before or after adjusted confounders. ③ There were significant associations between mobile phone ownership, the time spent on entertainment on the mobile phone, the position of the mobile phone during the day, the mode of the mobile phone at night and inattention in adolescents. We suggest that parents should set a maximum of 60 minutes daily playing by adolescents? on a mobile phone and require them to turn it off when they sleep.