[Television in a child's bedroom--a possible risk factor for expressive language impairment in 5- and 6-year-old children].
OBJECTIVE
There are a number of established risk factors for expressive language-impairment. Does reading aloud with children reduce the risk? Are extensive TV viewing and a TV set in the child's bedroom associated with an increased risk in preschool kids?


METHODS
Testing for expressive language impairment was carried out as part of the school entrance health examinations in four Bavarian districts. Testing included: correct use of the plural, comparative/superlative forms, syntax, verb flexion and use of articles (a maximum of 5 mistakes could be made). Parents were asked to answer a questionnaire on a number of biographic, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors potentially related to expressive language impairment.


RESULTS
The participation rate in the 4 districts was 88.3 % on average. Complete data were acquired for 3234 children. The prevalence for expressive language impairment (more than one mistake) was 12.2 (95 % CI: 11.3-13.2 %). Children who did not speak German predominantly at home were more often affected than children of German nationality: 44.4 % (95 % CI: 32.3-54.6 %) versus 9.9 % (95 % CI: 8.9 %-10.8 %). Logistic regression analyses identified only a TV set in the child's bedroom as an independent risk factor for expressive language impairment: OR 1.82 (95 % CI: 1.15-2.88).


CONCLUSIONS
Possession of an own TV in a child's bedroom appears to be an important, independent risk factor for expressive language impairment in preschool children.
von Kries
R
R
Abteilung für Epidemiologie im Kindes- und Jugendalter im Institut für Soziale Pädiatrie und Jugendmedizin der Ludwig-Maximilans-Universität, München, Germany.
von Suchodoletz
W
W
Stränger
J
J
Toschke
A M
AM
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*