The possible effects of maternal electronic media device usage during pregnancy on children’s sleep patterns

Özet

Objective: In recent years, there has been increasing scientific evidence about potential healthrisks caused by electromagnetic fields because of electronic media devices. Therefore, thisstudy aimed to examine the possible association between electronic media device usageduring pregnancy and sleep patterns in children and the possible role of electronic media device presence in the sleeping environment on children’s sleep disturbances.Material and Methods: The study was carried out with 400 healthy children aged between 1month and 5 years whose parents agreed to complete the questionnaire form. The questionnaire form consisted of questions about the history of prenatal and postnatal electromagneticfield exposure caused by electronic media devices and the presence of sleep disturbances inchildren. Data were analyzed with SPSS for Windows program. P-values 0.05).Conclusion: Our results highlight that exposure to electromagnetic fields caused by electronicmedia devices during the prenatal or postnatal period could be associated with sleep patternsin childhood. Considering the widespread use of electronic media devices, it may be an important public health problem given the long-term consequences of sleep disorders in childhood