RF Safe

Reduced Subjective Sleep Quality in People Rating Themselves as Electro-hypersensitive: An Observational Study

2023 · Mixed · Low evidence

← Research stream
MixedLow evidencePaper 351

In this online observational sample, participants self-identifying as EHS and those attributing symptoms to electromagnetic pollution reported longer sleep latency, worse subjective sleep quality, higher sleepiness, and more nocturnal mentation than non-EHS p…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2023
Study typecross_sectional
Reported directionMixed
Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Reduced Subjective Sleep Quality in People Rating Themselves as Electro-hypersensitive: An Observational Study Eicher C, Marty B, Achermann P, Huber R, Landolt H-P. Reduced Subjective Sleep Quality in People Rating Themselves as Electro-hypersensitive: An Observational Study. Sleep Medicine, 2023. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2023.11.029. Abstract Background Disturbed sleep is among the most frequent health complaints of people exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) used in mobile telecommunication, particularly in individuals who consider themselves as EMF hypersensitive (EHS). We aimed at investigating whether the EHS status per se is associated with sleep complaints. Because allelic variants of the gene encoding the L-type, voltage-gated calcium channel Cav1.2 (CACNA1C) were previously associated with sleep complaints reminiscent of those reported by EHS individuals, we also explored whether self-rated EHS status and sleep quality associate with these gene variants. Methods A total of 2′040 participants (1′381 females) aged 18–30 years completed online, validated questionnaires on EMF sensitivity, subjective sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, mentation during sleep, and diurnal preference. They also provided a saliva sample for genotyping three functional variants of CACNA1C (rs7304986, rs16929277 and rs2302729). Eligible participants endorsing the question “Are you electro- hypersensitive?” were considered as “EHS” (n = 105), those denying this question yet believing to develop detrimental health symptoms due to prevailing electromagnetic pollution as “attributers” (n = 254), and the remaining participants as “non-EHS” (n = 1′406). We combined the EHS and attributers into one group for binary analyses. In exploratory analyses, we then tested possible associations between EMF sensitivity, subjective sleep variables and CACNA1C variants using linear and logistic regression. We used age, sex, level of education, presence of sleep disorders and habitual mobile phone use as covariates and corrected with Benjamini- Hochberg False Discovery Rate for multiple comparisons. Results The EHS/attributers consistently reported prolonged sleep latency, reduced sleep quality, higher sleepiness and more nocturnal mentation when compared to non-EHS. Habitual mobile phone use was not associated with self-rated sleep latency and sleep quality scores. While the T-allele of variant rs2302729 of CACNA1C was associated with both, self-reported EMF sensitivity and reduced subjective sleep quality, we found no evidence for the hypothesis that EHS mediates impaired sleep quality via this allelic variant. Conclusions Irrespective of reported RF-EMF exposure, self-rated EHS/attributers rated subjective sleep quality worse than non-EHS individuals. Trial registration Swiss National Clinical Trials Portal (SNCTP000002285) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03074617) sciencedirect.com

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typecross_sectional
Effect directionmixed
PopulationAdults aged 18–30 years (online questionnaire sample)
Sample size2040
ExposureRF
Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: unknown

Main findings

In this online observational sample, participants self-identifying as EHS and those attributing symptoms to electromagnetic pollution reported longer sleep latency, worse subjective sleep quality, higher sleepiness, and more nocturnal mentation than non-EHS participants. Habitual mobile phone use was not associated with self-rated sleep latency or sleep quality. The T-allele of CACNA1C rs2302729 was associated with self-reported EMF sensitivity and reduced subjective sleep quality, but analyses did not support mediation of impaired sleep quality via EHS through this variant.

Outcomes measured

  • subjective sleep quality
  • sleep latency
  • daytime sleepiness
  • mentation during sleep
  • diurnal preference
  • self-rated EMF sensitivity (EHS status)
  • CACNA1C genotypes (rs7304986, rs16929277, rs2302729)

Limitations

  • Observational, cross-sectional design limits causal inference
  • Outcomes and EHS status based on self-report questionnaires
  • RF-EMF exposure not objectively measured; habitual mobile phone use used as a covariate
  • Exploratory genetic association analyses with multiple comparisons (FDR correction applied)
  • Study limited to ages 18–30; generalizability may be limited
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "cross_sectional",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile telecommunication",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Adults aged 18–30 years (online questionnaire sample)",
  "sample_size": 2040,
  "outcomes": [
    "subjective sleep quality",
    "sleep latency",
    "daytime sleepiness",
    "mentation during sleep",
    "diurnal preference",
    "self-rated EMF sensitivity (EHS status)",
    "CACNA1C genotypes (rs7304986, rs16929277, rs2302729)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In this online observational sample, participants self-identifying as EHS and those attributing symptoms to electromagnetic pollution reported longer sleep latency, worse subjective sleep quality, higher sleepiness, and more nocturnal mentation than non-EHS participants. Habitual mobile phone use was not associated with self-rated sleep latency or sleep quality. The T-allele of CACNA1C rs2302729 was associated with self-reported EMF sensitivity and reduced subjective sleep quality, but analyses did not support mediation of impaired sleep quality via EHS through this variant.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Observational, cross-sectional design limits causal inference",
    "Outcomes and EHS status based on self-report questionnaires",
    "RF-EMF exposure not objectively measured; habitual mobile phone use used as a covariate",
    "Exploratory genetic association analyses with multiple comparisons (FDR correction applied)",
    "Study limited to ages 18–30; generalizability may be limited"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "unknown",
  "keywords": [
    "electro-hypersensitivity",
    "EHS",
    "RF-EMF",
    "mobile telecommunication",
    "sleep quality",
    "sleep latency",
    "daytime sleepiness",
    "nocturnal mentation",
    "CACNA1C",
    "rs2302729",
    "genotyping",
    "observational study"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "who-icnirp",
      "weight": 0.28,
      "reason": "Addresses health complaints attributed to RF-EMF exposure and self-reported EHS, relevant to broader RF-EMF health evidence discussions."
    }
  ]
}
AI can be wrong. Always verify against the paper.

AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2023.11.029
PubMed: Not supplied

Read the original paper →

Related papers

← Back to the Research Library