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

Abstract

Overview

The rapid increase in mobile phone usage has sparked widespread public concern regarding its potential impact on health, specifically the risk of developing dementia. This study delves into the correlation between daily mobile phone usage and the likelihood of dementia onset among adults living in communities, using data sourced from the UK Biobank.

Methodology

Adults aged 60 or older, with no prior dementia diagnosis at recruitment, were examined in this prospective cohort study. The study leveraged a Cox regression model to adjust for various factors such as sociodemographic characteristics, general and mental health, lifestyle, comorbidities, and medication usage, with the aim of estimating the hazard ratio (HR) and confidence interval (CI) for dementia risk relative to mobile phone usage.

Findings

• 213,181 participants were analyzed, with 6,344 new dementia cases identified over an average follow-up of 12.4 years.
• A modest inverse association was observed between mobile phone use and the incidence of dementia, with different levels of phone usage associated with varying degrees of reduced risk.
• The study also found that a small portion of the risk reduction could be attributed to increased social interactions and mental activities.

Conclusion

The findings suggest a significant connection between regular use of mobile phones and a decreased risk of developing dementia among adults in the UK. This relation appears to be partly due to enhanced social and mental engagement facilitated by mobile phone use.