The Association Between Smartphone Use and Breast Cancer Risk Among Taiwanese Women: A Case-Control Study

2020 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 1210

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2020

Study typecase_control

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

The Association Between Smartphone Use and Breast Cancer Risk Among Taiwanese Women: A Case-Control Study Ya-Wen Shih, Chin-Sheng Hung, Cheng-Chiao Huang, Kuei-Ru Chou, Shu-Fen Niu, Sally Chan, and Hsiu-Ting Tsai. The Association Between Smartphone Use and Breast Cancer Risk Among Taiwanese Women: A Case-Control Study. Cancer Manag Res. 2020; 12: 10799–10807. 2020 Oct 29. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S267415 Abstract Introduction Breast cancer is a common malignancy worldwide. Smartphones have gradually become indispensable to our modern lives and have already changed lifestyles of human beings. To our best knowledge, no study has investigated the relationship between smartphone use and breast cancer. This case-control study purposely investigated the relationship between smartphone use and breast cancer risk. Materials and Methods This was a case-control study comprising 894 healthy controls and 211 patients with breast cancer. All participants were asked to respond to standard questionnaires to collect information on sleep quality, smartphone addiction, and smartphone use. Results Participants with smartphone addiction had a significantly higher 1.43-fold risk of breast cancer. Individuals with the habitual behavior of smartphone use >4.5 minutes before bedtime had a significantly increased 5.27-fold risk of breast cancer compared to those who used a smartphone for ≤4.5 minutes before bedtime. Additionally, a closer distance between the smartphone and the breasts when using the smartphone exhibited a significantly increased 1.59-fold risk. Participants who carried their smartphone near their chest or waist-abdomen area had significantly increased 5.03-fold and 4.06-fold risks of breast cancer, respectively, compared to those who carried the smartphone below the waist. Moreover, there was a synergistic effect of smartphone addiction and smartphone use of >4.5 minutes before bedtime which increased the breast cancer risk. Conclusion Excessive smartphone use significantly increased the risk of breast cancer, particularly for participants with smartphone addiction, a close distance between the breasts and smartphone, and the habit of smartphone use before bedtime. Open access paper: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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 typecase_control

Effect directionharm

PopulationTaiwanese women (211 breast cancer patients; 894 healthy controls)

Sample size1105

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: unknown

Main findings

In this case-control study, smartphone addiction was associated with a higher breast cancer risk (reported 1.43-fold). Smartphone use >4.5 minutes before bedtime was associated with higher risk versus ≤4.5 minutes (reported 5.27-fold). Closer distance between the smartphone and breasts during use and carrying the phone near the chest or waist-abdomen (vs below the waist) were also associated with higher reported risks; a synergistic effect between smartphone addiction and >4.5 minutes use before bedtime was reported.

Outcomes measured

Breast cancer risk
Associations with smartphone addiction
Associations with smartphone use duration before bedtime
Associations with distance between smartphone and breasts during use
Associations with smartphone carrying location (near chest, waist-abdomen, below waist)
Synergistic effect of smartphone addiction and >4.5 minutes use before bedtime

Limitations

Exposure metrics were based on self-reported questionnaire data (smartphone use/addiction, distance, carrying location).
Case-control design (cannot establish causality).
No RF/EMF exposure parameters (e.g., frequency, SAR) were reported in the abstract.

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "case_control",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "smartphone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Taiwanese women (211 breast cancer patients; 894 healthy controls)",
  "sample_size": 1105,
  "outcomes": [
    "Breast cancer risk",
    "Associations with smartphone addiction",
    "Associations with smartphone use duration before bedtime",
    "Associations with distance between smartphone and breasts during use",
    "Associations with smartphone carrying location (near chest, waist-abdomen, below waist)",
    "Synergistic effect of smartphone addiction and >4.5 minutes use before bedtime"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In this case-control study, smartphone addiction was associated with a higher breast cancer risk (reported 1.43-fold). Smartphone use >4.5 minutes before bedtime was associated with higher risk versus ≤4.5 minutes (reported 5.27-fold). Closer distance between the smartphone and breasts during use and carrying the phone near the chest or waist-abdomen (vs below the waist) were also associated with higher reported risks; a synergistic effect between smartphone addiction and >4.5 minutes use before bedtime was reported.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure metrics were based on self-reported questionnaire data (smartphone use/addiction, distance, carrying location).",
    "Case-control design (cannot establish causality).",
    "No RF/EMF exposure parameters (e.g., frequency, SAR) were reported in the abstract."
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "unknown",
  "keywords": [
    "smartphone",
    "mobile phone",
    "breast cancer",
    "case-control",
    "Taiwan",
    "smartphone addiction",
    "bedtime use",
    "carrying location",
    "distance to body"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "mobile-phones-cancer",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Case-control study assessing smartphone use patterns in relation to breast cancer risk."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.2147/cmar.s267415
PubMed: Not supplied

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