Associations of television viewing, computer use, and Alzheimer's disease among United States adults: A cross-sectional study of NHANES

Background Electronic screen use has become increasingly prevalent in modern society; however, its relationship with Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear and insufficiently characterized. Objective To examine the associations of television (TV) viewing time and computer use with AD among United States (U.S.) adults. Methods This cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2006 and 2011–2016. A total of 12,165 participants aged ≥45 years were included. Survey-weighted logistic regression models were used to evaluate the associations between screen time and AD. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) analyses were performed to explore potential nonlinear relationships. Results Longer TV viewing time was significantly associated with higher odds of AD (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08–1.29, p FDR = 0.002). Computer use was not significantly associated with AD in the main models. RCS analyses showed that computer use had a significant nonlinear U-shaped association with AD ( p for nonlinear <0.001), with the lowest odds observed at approximately two hours per day. Conclusions Among U.S. adults aged ≥45 years, longer TV viewing time was associated with higher odds of AD, whereas computer use showed a nonlinear association with the lowest odds observed at around two hours per day.