Abstract
Background: Little is known on how time spent on touch-screen technology affects the hand skills development of preschool children. This study aimed to investigate the effects of touch-screen technology usage on hand skills among preschool children. Methods: Case-control design was employed to compare the hand skills of children who were engaged in touch-screen technology. A total of 128 participants aged between five and six years old who attended preschool were recruited and divided into two groups: high usage touch-screen technology (HUTSTG) and, low usage touch-screen technology (LUTSTG). Children's Hand Skills ability Questionnaire (CHSQ) and Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS) were used to evaluate the children's hand skills. Results: There were significant differences in the hand skills of preschool children between HUTSTG and LUTSTG. Results showed that preschool children in LUTSTG had better hand skills in all domains of CHSQ (p≤0.001) and ACHS (p<0.001) as compared to HUTSTG. Conclusion: Frequent use of touch-screen technology might cause disadvantages to the development of hand skills among preschool children.
Highlights
The proliferation of electronic technology in recent years has played a significant role in people’s everyday life
A recent study found that age plays a significant role in hand skill development[25]. Since these personal and environmental factors might influence the hand skills of children, this study aimed to examine the interaction of each element on hand skills
Participant’s demographic characteristics The high usage touch-screen technology (HUTSTG) and low usage touchscreen technology (LUTSTG) groups each consisted of 64 preschool children in which the gender, and
Summary
The proliferation of electronic technology in recent years has played a significant role in people’s everyday life. Touch-screen technology usage among children had increased rapidly from 8%t to 40% in two years[2]. Instead of engaging and exploring their surroundings, children tend to spend most of their time playing and interacting with touch-screen technology[3]. When using touch-screen technology, the involvement of motor coordination, muscle strength and dexterity are relatively low when compared to activities such as drawing, handwriting or playing with objects and toys[7]. Little is known on how time spent on touch-screen technology affects the hand skills development of preschool children. This study aimed to investigate the effects of touch-screen technology usage on hand skills among preschool children. Conclusion: Frequent use of touch-screen technology might cause disadvantages to the development of hand skills among preschool children
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