Authored By:
Redmayne M, Smith CL, Benke G, Croft RJ, Dalecki A, Dimitriadis C, Kaufman J, Macleod S, Sim MR, Wolfe R, Abramson MJThis Australian cohort study investigated whether there is an association between wireless phone use and cognitive function in children. The cohort included a total of 619 children aged 8-11 years from schools in Melbourne and Wollongong. Information on mobile and cordless phone use was obtained via questionnaires and the children were tested for cognitive function. Overall, there was no support of an association between wireless phones use and cognitive function in primary school-aged children.
Published In:
Environ Health 2016; 15 (1): 26This paper reported the results that were obtained at the start of the cohort study (baseline), which will be compared to the results obtained at a later time (after a period of follow-up).
As commented on January 2016’s report, studies investigating cognitive effects of mobile phone use on children have yielded inconsistent results so far.
Obtaining information via questionnaires can produce information bias. In this study by Redmayne et al, it was interesting to note that many children reported themselves as using a mobile phone whereas the parents reported that they were not using it.
Another interesting finding was that there was a significant difference in the reaction time (which is a measured parameter of cognitive function) on one of the tasks between girls and boys (gender effects), which may warrant further investigation.
