Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30820029›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2019

Television viewing and cognitive decline in older age: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Daisy Fancourt, Andrew Steptoe

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
38.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Impact of Different Types of Sedentary Behaviour on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2026
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  6. Observational
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  19. [Effects of Television Screen Exposure on the Mental Health of Middle-aged and Older Adults].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Daisy FancourtResearch Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK. d.fancourt@ucl.ac.uk.
Andrew SteptoeResearch Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.
University College London · GB

Funding

Project-001R01AG017644 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF LONDON INST OF NEUROLOGY · PI Andrew Steptoe · 2000 to 2026
$56.2M
British Heart FoundationNIA NIH HHS R01 AG017644Wellcome Trust 205407/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

There has been significant interest in the effects of television on cognition in children, but much less research has been carried out into the effects in older adults. This study aimed to explore whether television viewing behaviours in adults aged 50 or over are associated with a decline in cognition. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging involving 3,662 adults aged 50+, we used multivariate linear regression models to explore longitudinal associations between baseline television watching (2008/2009) and cognition 6 years later (2014/2015) while controlling for demographic factors, socio-economic status, depression, physical health, health behaviours and a range of other sedentary behaviours. Watching television for more than 3.5 hours per day is associated with a dose-response decline in verbal memory over the following six years, independent of confounding variables. These results are found in particular amongst those with better cognition at baseline and are robust to a range of sensitivity analyses exploring reverse causality, differential non-response and stability of television viewing. Watching television is not longitudinally associated with changes in semantic fluency. Overall our results provide preliminary data to suggest that television viewing for more than 3.5 hours per day is related to cognitive decline.

Indexed as

AgedAgingCognitionCognitive DysfunctionFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMemoryRecreationTelevision

Identifiers

PMID30820029
PMCPMC6395805
OpenAlexW2916693738

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.