Micronucleus Assay in Cell Phone Users: Importance of Oral Mucosa Screening

2021 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 968

In 100 samples, daily cell phone usage was significantly correlated with frequency of micronucleus-containing buccal mucosa cells (r=0.70, P=0.0001) and with frequency of micronucleus in each cell (r=0.57, P=0.0001). Age and sex were not significantly correla…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2021

Study typecross_sectional

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Micronucleus Assay in Cell Phone Users: Importance of Oral Mucosa Screening Melika Ghandehari, Donia Sadri, Sareh Farhadi. Micronucleus Assay in Cell Phone Users: Importance of Oral Mucosa Screening. Int J Prev Med. 2021 Sep 29;12:125. doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_489_19. Abstract Background: One of the concerns of cell phone users is prolonged exposure to harmful and potentially carcinogenic waves. This study was aimed to investigate the correlation between amount of cell phone use and related factors with percentage of micronucleus containing cells. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on selected patients referring to Islamic Azad University Faculty of Dentistry using cell phones regarding related inclusion and exclusion criteria. Papanicolaou staining method was approached for mucosal smears of samples and frequency of micronucleus containing cells and also, frequency of micronucleus in each cell were recorded for each sample; then, correlation of these findings with amount of daily cell phone usage was statistically analyzed using the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficient and preparation of regression analysis (backward) with significant level of lower than 0.05. Results: Of 100 samples, the frequency of micronucleus containing cells was 2.94% ± 1.89% and the frequency of micronucleus in each cell was 1.02% ± 1.68%. The amount of cell phone usage was significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing cells (r = 0.70, P = 0.0001) and also with the frequency of micronucleus in each cell (r = 0.57, P = 0.0001). Also, age and sex were not significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing cells (P = 0.47 and 0.32) and also with the frequency of micronucleus in each cell, respectively (P = 0.16 and 0.27). Conclusions: The present study showed that the increased amount of cell phone usage had a strong and significant correlation with the higher frequency of the micronucleus containing cells and the higher frequency of micronucleus in each cell in the buccal mucosa. Also, the related factors as age and sex were not significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing buccal mucosa cells. Open access paper: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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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 directionharm

PopulationSelected patients referring to Islamic Azad University Faculty of Dentistry who used cell phones (per inclusion/exclusion criteria)

Sample size100

ExposureRF · daily cell phone usage (amount not specified)

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Frequency (%) of micronucleus-containing buccal mucosa cells
Frequency of micronucleus in each cell (buccal mucosa)
Association of age and sex with micronucleus outcomes

Limitations

Descriptive/cross-sectional design (correlation; causality not established)
Exposure characterization limited to amount of daily cell phone usage; no frequency/SAR reported
Population drawn from patients at a single dentistry faculty; generalizability unclear

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "cross_sectional",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "daily cell phone usage (amount not specified)"
  },
  "population": "Selected patients referring to Islamic Azad University Faculty of Dentistry who used cell phones (per inclusion/exclusion criteria)",
  "sample_size": 100,
  "outcomes": [
    "Frequency (%) of micronucleus-containing buccal mucosa cells",
    "Frequency of micronucleus in each cell (buccal mucosa)",
    "Association of age and sex with micronucleus outcomes"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In 100 samples, daily cell phone usage was significantly correlated with frequency of micronucleus-containing buccal mucosa cells (r=0.70, P=0.0001) and with frequency of micronucleus in each cell (r=0.57, P=0.0001). Age and sex were not significantly correlated with either micronucleus outcome.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Descriptive/cross-sectional design (correlation; causality not established)",
    "Exposure characterization limited to amount of daily cell phone usage; no frequency/SAR reported",
    "Population drawn from patients at a single dentistry faculty; generalizability unclear"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "cell phone",
    "mobile phone",
    "RF exposure",
    "buccal mucosa",
    "micronucleus assay",
    "Papanicolaou staining",
    "genotoxicity",
    "oral mucosa screening"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "mobile-phones",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Study examines associations between amount of cell phone use and buccal mucosa micronucleus outcomes."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_489_19
PubMed: Not supplied

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