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Night-time Screen Media Use in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Arif Somani1, Aurora Wiseman1, Mary-Grace Hickman1

  • 1University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Global Pediatric Health
|October 7, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Children in pediatric intensive care units (ICUs) exceed recommended screen time limits before sleep. This study observed screen media use in 75 pediatric patients, finding average nightly use of 65 minutes.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric critical care
  • Sleep science
  • Media and child development

Background:

  • Screen media use is prevalent in children.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends limiting screen time, especially before sleep.
  • Understanding screen time patterns in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) is crucial for patient well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify screen media use during the night-time pre-sleep period in a pediatric intensive care unit (ICU).
  • To explore potential implications of this screen time on pediatric patients.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective observational study design.
  • Observation of 75 pediatric patients (newborn to 19 years) over 3 weeks, 5 evenings per week.
  • Data collection included screen use, type, engagement, sleep state, light level, and parental presence.

Main Results:

  • Pediatric ICU patients averaged 65 minutes of screen media use per evening.
  • Screen time varied by age group, with the 18-24 month group having the highest average at 83 minutes.
  • All observed age groups exceeded recommended pre-sleep screen time guidelines.

Conclusions:

  • Children in a pediatric ICU setting engage in significant amounts of screen media use before sleep.
  • This usage pattern surpasses recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
  • Further research is needed to understand the implications of pre-sleep screen time on recovery and sleep quality in critically ill children.

Keywords:
critical carehospitalintensive care unitspediatricsscreen timesleep

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