Association between mobile phone use and incidence of dementia: A prospective cohort study using

Abstract

Association between mobile phone use and incidence of dementia: A prospective cohort study using the UK Biobank Zhao H, Wen Q, Zhuo L, Wang S, Zhan S. Association between mobile phone use and incidence of dementia: A prospective cohort study using the UK Biobank. Gerontology. 2023 Jul 26. doi: 10.1159/000531847. Abstract Introduction: The rapid growth in mobile phone use has led to public concern about its potential effects on the risk of dementia. This study aimed to investigate the association between mobile phone use in daily life and the risk of dementia incidence in community-dwelling adults based on the data from the UK Biobank. Methods: Participants in the UK Biobank aged 60 years or older with no diagnosis of dementia at the time of recruitment were included in this prospective cohort study. A Cox regression model adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, general health factors, mental health, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and medication use was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (CI) of the association between mobile phone use and dementia risk. Results: The final analyses included 213,181 participants. During a median follow-up period of 12.4 years, 6,344 cases of incident dementia occurred. Mobile phone use displayed a modest association with lower risk of dementia incidence, with HRs of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.79-0.91), 0.85 (95% CI: 0.80-0.91), 0.78 (95% C: 0.71-0.86), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.77-0.96), and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.70-0.98) for participants who reported phone call usage of fewer than 5 minutes, 5-29 minutes, 30-59 minutes, 1-3 hours, and more than 3 hours per week, respectively, compared with non-users. In addition, the proportions of the association medicated by family/friend visits and other leisure/social activities were 2.62% (95% CI: - 0.64-6.51) and 2.22% (95% CI: 1.12-4.12), respectively. Conclusions: Daily mobile phone use is significantly associated with a reduced risk of incident dementia in community-dwelling adults in the UK Biobank population. This association seems to be mediated by improved social and mental activities. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

In 213,181 adults aged ≥60 years followed for a median of 12.4 years (6,344 incident dementia cases), mobile phone call use was associated with a lower risk of incident dementia compared with non-use (HRs 0.85, 0.85, 0.78, 0.86, and 0.83 across increasing weekly call-duration categories). Mediation analyses suggested small proportions mediated by family/friend visits and other leisure/social activities.

Outcomes measured

• Incident dementia

Suggested hubs

• who-icnirp (0.2)
  Observational evidence on health outcomes potentially relevant to RF-EMF risk assessment discussions.

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    "study_type": "cohort",
    "exposure": {
        "band": "RF",
        "source": "mobile phone",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": "Self-reported weekly phone call usage categories: <5 min, 5–29 min, 30–59 min, 1–3 h, >3 h per week"
    },
    "population": "UK Biobank participants aged ≥60 years, community-dwelling adults without dementia at recruitment",
    "sample_size": 213181,
    "outcomes": [
        "Incident dementia"
    ],
    "main_findings": "In 213,181 adults aged ≥60 years followed for a median of 12.4 years (6,344 incident dementia cases), mobile phone call use was associated with a lower risk of incident dementia compared with non-use (HRs 0.85, 0.85, 0.78, 0.86, and 0.83 across increasing weekly call-duration categories). Mediation analyses suggested small proportions mediated by family/friend visits and other leisure/social activities.",
    "effect_direction": "benefit",
    "limitations": [],
    "evidence_strength": "moderate",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "mobile phone",
        "phone calls",
        "RF exposure proxy",
        "dementia",
        "incident dementia",
        "UK Biobank",
        "prospective cohort",
        "Cox regression",
        "mediation",
        "social activities"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "who-icnirp",
            "weight": 0.200000000000000011102230246251565404236316680908203125,
            "reason": "Observational evidence on health outcomes potentially relevant to RF-EMF risk assessment discussions."
        }
    ]
}

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