Screen time and speech and language delay in children aged 12–48 months in UAE: a case–control study

Abstract

Background: To identify impact of screen time on speech and language development in preschool children. There has been an alarming increase in the use of electronic devices among preschool children despite their potential adverse effects on childhood development during this crucial time of rapid brain development. Prior research has identified the potential risk and benefits of traditional screen media such as television and video. Our findings will help your readers understand the potential impact of screen time between traditional and new technologies. The case–control study included 227 new patients with language delay and 227 normal children, aged 12–48 months male and female. Language delay was diagnosed by reviewing language milestones and Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test (RELT). Television viewing variables and child/parental characteristics between both groups were interviewed. Odds ratio was used to establish whether screen time using either electronic devices (smartphones and tablets) or TV viewing has an effect on speech and language development. Chi-square test was used to establish the association between categorical variable 95%. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Result: A total of 90.3% of those who have speech and language developmental delay use electronic devices. Odd ratio is found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: The factors that predict language delays include use of and early onset of using an electronic device at 12–24 months of age. The factors that were less likely associated with language delays are watching TV and the mother’s education level.