Study type: Medical/biological study (observational study)

The effects of the duration of mobile phone use on heart rate variability parameters in healthy subjects med./bio.

Published in: Anatol J Cardiol 2016; 16 (11): 833-838

Aim of study (acc. to author)

The influence of the duration of mobile phone use on heart rate variability should be investigated.

Background/further details

From a total of 251 healthy volunteers recruited from the hospital staff, 148 subjects (85 women and 63 men) were included in the study. The inclusion criteria were age >18 years, an interference-free 24-h ECG and the volunteer's consent. Subjects were divided into 4 groups according to the duration of mobile phone use: 1) < 30 minutes/day (n=37), 2) 30 - 60 minutes/day (n=37), 3) > 60 minutes/day (n=39), 4) no mobile phone use (control group; n=35). All participants (except for the control group) had been using mobile phones for > 10 years prior to the study.

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure Parameters
Exposure 1:
  • unspecified
Exposure duration: < 30 minutes/day of mobile phone use
-
Exposure 2:
  • unspecified
Exposure duration: 30-60 minutes/day of mobile phone use
-
Exposure 3:
  • unspecified
Exposure duration: > 60 minutes/day of mobile phone use
-

Exposure 1

Main characteristics
Frequency
  • unspecified
Type
Exposure duration < 30 minutes/day of mobile phone use
Exposure setup
Exposure source
Setup daily durations of mobile phone use were calculated automatically by dividing the total duration of calls (total minutes within a month) into the number of telephone calls (total number within a month)
Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Exposure 2

Main characteristics
Frequency
  • unspecified
Type
Exposure duration 30-60 minutes/day of mobile phone use
Exposure setup
Exposure source
Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Exposure 3

Main characteristics
Frequency
  • unspecified
Type
Exposure duration > 60 minutes/day of mobile phone use
Exposure setup
Exposure source
Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Exposed system:

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Investigated system:
Investigated organ system:
Time of investigation:
  • before exposure
  • during exposure
  • after exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

After adjustment for age, sex and BMI, only the LF/HF ratio of heart rate variability was significantly increased in the exposure groups (groups 1-3) compared to the control group (remark EMF-Portal: for other parameters, significance after statistical adjustment was not mentioned).
The authors conclude that long-term mobile phone use might influence the heart rate variability.

Study character:

Study funded by

Comments on this article

Related articles