Global Response To Digital Dementia & Resources

Although WHO doesn’t specifically use the term “digital dementia” in its reports, it has shown significant concern about the health risks of excessive digital technology use.

According to WHO, the excessive use of digital devices has become a significant public health concern in an increasing number of countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines dementia as a syndrome in which cognitive function deteriorates beyond what might be expected from the usual consequences of biological ageing. This chronic condition affects many older adults. It causes impaired ability to identify objects, comprehend or use language, and do previously learned motor activities.

Since 2014, the World Health Organisation has been conducting activities related to the public health implications of excessive use of the Internet, computers, smartphones, and similar digital devices in response to concerns expressed by professional groups, academics, experts, and clinicians.

• In 2014, in Tokyo, Japan, the World Health Organisation held its first meeting in collaboration with Kurihama Medical and Addiction Centre to discuss the available evidence on the epidemiology, nature, phenomenology, outcomes, and public health implications of health conditions associated with excessive use of the Internet, smartphones, and similar electronic/digital devices.

• The second meeting held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in 2015 in collaboration with the Korean Association of Addiction Psychiatry and Catholic Kwan Dong University addressed the spectrum, taxonomy and clinical descriptions of behavioural disorders associated with excessive use of the Internet and other communication and gaming platforms within the conceptual framework of disorders due to addictive behaviours and the context of the 11th revision of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

• In September 2016, collaborating with the Department of Health of Hong Kong SAR, China, which was the third meeting, discussions focused on health promotion, prevention, and treatment policies and programmes aimed at reducing the public health problems associated with excessive use of the Internet, computers, smartphones and other communication and gaming platforms.

• In Istanbul, Turkey, the fourth WHO meeting, hosted by the Turkish Green Crescent Society, was held in November 2017 and focused on the conceptual and clinical validity of gaming and gambling disorders.

Resources

• Can Excessive Screen Time Cause Digital Dementia?
• Public health implications of excessive use of the internet, computers, smartphones and similar electronic devices: meeting report, Main Meeting Hall, Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research, National Cancer Research Centre, Tokyo, Japan, 27-29 August 2014.