Epidemiological study (observational study)

Overall mortality of cellular telephone customers epidem.

By: Rothman KJ, Loughlin JE, Funch DP, Dreyer NA

Published in: Epidemiology 1996; 7 (3): 303-305

Aim of study (acc. to author)

The overall mortality of cellular telephone customers was investigated in a study conducted in the USA.

Further details

Two different types of cellular phones were included in the study: the portable model where the antenna is located together with the battery in a box separately from the hand piece, and the handheld model which has the antenna in the hand piece in close proximity to the head during a call.

Endpoint/type of risk estimation

mortality

Type of risk estimation:

mortality

(standardized mortality rate (SMR))

Exposure

- mobile communications
- analog mobile phone
- personal

Assessment

list: data from cellular telephone markets including name, address, date of birth, mobile telephone number, account number, electronic serial number, social security number, type of telephone, start of service date

Exposure groups

Group	Description
Group 1	portable cellular telephone users
Group 2	handheld mobile telephone users

Population

Group:
- men
- women
Characteristics: noncorporate, single-phone customers
Observation period: 1994
Study location: USA (metropolitan areas of Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Washington DC)
Exclusion criteria: accounts of corporations, accounts with multiple telephones, missing data

Study size

Type	Value
Total	770,390
Eligible	255,868

Results (acc. to author)

23 % of the customers had a handheld mobile phone, 19 % had a portable mobile phone; telephone type was unknown for the remaining 58 %. 604 deaths occurred among the cohort members during 1994. The overall mortality rates for portable and handheld cellular phone users were similar and much lower than corresponding rates for the general population. The low mortality probably reflects the higher socioeconomic status of cellular phone customers.

Limitations (acc. to author)

A substantial proportion of the original cohort had to be excluded due to missing information. The time between exposure to cellular phones and the death endpoints was short, so the study addressed only short-term effects.

Study funded by

Wireless Technology, Inc., USA

Comments on this article

Lundquist M (1999): Need for categorization of exposure in studies of cellular telephone users
Buffler PA (1996): Cellular telephones and health

Stewart A et al. (2012): Mobile telecommunications and health: report of an investigation into an alleged cancer cluster in Sandwell, West Midlands
Dode AC et al. (2011): Mortality by neoplasia and cellular telephone base stations in the Belo Horizonte municipality, Minas Gerais state, Brazil
Wolf R et al. (2004): Increased incidence of cancer near a cell-phone transmitter station
Dreyer NA et al. (1999): Cause-specific mortality in cellular telephone users

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