Smartphone and tablet usage during COVID-19 pandemic confinement in children under 48 months in Barcelona (Spain)
Author
Cartanyà-Hueso, Àurea
Lidón Moyano, Cristina
Cassanello Peñarroya, Pía
Díez-Izquierdo, Ana
Martín Sánchez, Juan Carlos
Balaguer Santamaría, Albert
Martínez Sánchez, Jose María
Publication date
2021ISSN
2227-9032
Abstract
Background: Total lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic might have potentially increased screen time in children. This study aims to describe the smartphone and tablets usage in children under 48 months living in Barcelona during the COVID-19 confinement. Methods: Cross-sectional study using a non-probabilistic sample of parents with children under 48 months living in Barcelona (Spain) during COVID-19 confinement (n = 313). We calculated percentages of exposure to smartphones and tablets. Moreover, for those children were exposed, we calculated unadjusted and adjusted Geometric Mean Ratios (GMR) of daily smartphones and tablets usage and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) trough Generalized Linear Models with Gamma family and link log. Associations were adjusted for potential confounders. Results: During COVID-19 confinement, 67.5% of children under 48 months were daily exposed to smartphones and tablets. Further, those children who were exposed during meals, as well as before going to bed, spend longer durations using them, aGMR = 2.38 (95% CI 1.73, 3.34) and aGMR = 1.95 (95% CI 1.34, 2.91) respectively. Conclusion: Two out of three children under 48 months living in Barcelona were daily exposed to smartphones and tablets during total lockdown due to COVID-19. Taking this findings into account cohort studies are needed to assess any change in the screen time patterns due to total confinement in order to allow the Government help families, particularly those more vulnerable, in a possible pandemic resurgence.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
61 - Medical sciences
Keywords
COVID-19 (Malaltia)
Televisió i infants
Infants -- Salut i higiene
COVID-19
Televisión y niños
Niños -- Salud e higiene
COVID-19
Television and children
Children -- Health and hygiene
Pages
8
Publisher
MDPI
Collection
9; 1
Is part of
Healthcare
Citation
Cartanyà-Hueso, Àurea; Lidón-Moyano, Cristina; Cassanello, Pia [et al.]. Smartphone and tablet usage during COVID-19 pandemic confinement in children under 48 months in Barcelona (Spain). Healthcare, 2021, 9(1), 96. Disponible en: <https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/1/96>. Fecha de acceso: 24 feb. 2021. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare9010096
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Ciències de la Salut [738]
Rights
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/