Effect of Mobile Phone Usage on Reaction Time in School Going Children Aged between 6-12 Years using a Ruler Drop Method - A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Increase in usage of cellphonization has increased massively in past 3 decades. Reaction time is very important for our everyday lives and needs intact sensory system, cognitive processing, and motor performance. Children under 6-12 years are the rich years filled with growth and more remarkable changes in executive attention. Objective: To assess the effect of mobile use on reaction time in school children aged 6-12 years by RULER DROP METHOD. Method: A total of 116 subjects aged 6- 12 years were selected and classified according to timing of mobile phone usage. Procedure was explained to all the participants. Reaction time was evaluated using ruler drop test and the data was statistically analysed. Result: The mean value and standard deviation for age was 9.05 ? 1.95 years, Height was 130.29 ? 10.776 cm, Weight was 26.93 ? 5.05 kg, BMI was 15.76 ? 1.68 kg/m2, Mobile phone usage was 5.57 ? 0.97 hours and Reaction time was 178.19 ? 26.12 ms. Conclusion: The study concludes that there is significant correlation between reaction time and mobile phone usage in children aged between 6-12 years.