Medical/biological study (observational study)

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

By: Ekici B, Tanindi A, Ekici G, Diker E

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

effects on the cardiovascular system: heart rate variability

Exposure

- mobile communications
- mobile phone
- personal

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	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	< 30 minutes/day of mobile phone use

Exposure setup

Exposure source	cellular phone
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	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	30-60 minutes/day of mobile phone use

Exposure setup

Exposure source	same setup as exposure 1

Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Exposure 3

Main characteristics

Frequency	unspecified
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	> 60 minutes/day of mobile phone use

Exposure setup

Exposure source	same setup as exposure 1

Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Exposed system:

human

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

effects on the cardiovascular system: heart rate variability: mean heart rate, standard deviation of RR intervals, standard deviation of 5 minute mean RR intervals, proportion of successive R-R differences >50 ms for each 5-minute interval, root mean square differences of successive RR intervals, power of high (HF)-, low (LF)-, very low (VLF)-frequency components, total power and the LF/HF ratio (24-hour ECG)

Investigated system:

investigation on living organism

Investigated organ system:

cardiovascular 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:

medical/biological study
observational study
full/main study

Study funded by

not stated/no funding

Comments on this article

Mert KU et al. (2017): Electromagnetic interference of mobile phones: insight into heart rate variability

Umar ZU et al. (2014): Effect of mobile phone radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on cardiovascular parameters in apparently healthy individuals
Devasia T et al. (2014): Acute Effect of Mobile Phone on Cardiac Electrical Activity in Healthy Volunteers
Parazzini M et al. (2013): Nonlinear Heart Rate Variability Measures Under Electromagnetic Fields Produced by GSM Cellular Phones
Augner C et al. (2012): Acute effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM mobile phones on subjective well-being and physiological reactions: a meta-analysis
Barutcu I et al. (2011): Do Mobile Phones Pose a Potential Risk to Autonomic Modulation of the Heart?
Havas M et al. (2010): Provocation study using heart rate variability shows microwave radiation from 2.4 GHz cordless phone affects autonomic nervous system
Yilmaz D et al. (2010): Analysis of the mobile phone effect on the heart rate variability by using the largest Lyapunov exponent
Tamer A et al. (2009): The cardiac effects of a mobile phone positioned closest to the heart
Thajudin Ahamed VI et al. (2008): Effect of mobile phone radiation on heart rate variability
Andrzejak R et al. (2008): The influence of the call with a mobile phone on heart rate variability parameters in healthy volunteers
Parazzini M et al. (2007): Electromagnetic fields produced by GSM cellular phones and heart rate variability
Barker AT et al. (2007): The effect of GSM and TETRA mobile handset signals on blood pressure, catechol levels and heart rate variability
Atlasz T et al. (2006): The application of surface plethysmography for heart rate variability analysis after GSM radiofrequency exposure

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

Aim of study (acc. to author)

Background/further details

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Exposure setup

Parameters

Exposure 2

Main characteristics

Exposure setup

Parameters

Exposure 3

Main characteristics

Exposure setup

Parameters

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

Study funded by

Comments on this article

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