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Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland

2019 · Mixed · Moderate evidence

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MixedModerate evidencePaper 1736

Participants in the highest decile of recorded call-time at baseline (>276 min/week) had a weak, suggestive increased frequency of weekly headaches at 4-year follow-up (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95–1.34), with no obvious gradient by increasing call-time (P t…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019
Study typecohort
Reported directionMixed
Evidence ratingModerate

Abstract

Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland Auvinen A, Feychting M, Ahlbom A, Hillert L, Elliott P, Schüz J, Kromhout H, Toledano MB, Johansen C, Poulsen AH, Vermeulen R, Heinävaara S, Kojo K, Tettamanti G, COSMOS Study Group. Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland. Int J Epidemiol. 2019 Jul 13. pii: dyz127. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyz127. Abstract BACKGROUND: Mobile phone use and exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from it have been associated with symptoms in some studies, but the studies have shortcomings and their findings are inconsistent. We conducted a prospective cohort study to assess the association between amount of mobile phone use at baseline and frequency of headache, tinnitus or hearing loss at 4-year follow-up. METHODS: The participants had mobile phone subscriptions with major mobile phone network operators in Sweden (n = 21 049) and Finland (n = 3120), gave consent for obtaining their mobile phone call data from operator records at baseline, and filled in both baseline and follow-up questionnaires on symptoms, potential confounders and further characteristics of their mobile phone use. RESULTS: The participants with the highest decile of recorded call-time (average call-time >276 min per week) at baseline showed a weak, suggestive increased frequency of weekly headaches at 4-year follow-up (adjusted odds ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 0.95-1.34). There was no obvious gradient of weekly headache with increasing call-time (P trend 0.06). The association of headache with call-time was stronger for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network than older Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) technology, despite the latter involving higher exposure to RF-EMF. Tinnitus and hearing loss showed no association with call-time. CONCLUSIONS: People using mobile phones most extensively for making or receiving calls at baseline reported weekly headaches slightly more frequently at follow-up than other users, but this finding largely disappeared after adjustment for confounders and was not related to call-time in GSM with higher RF-EMF exposure. Tinnitus and hearing loss were not associated with amount of call-time. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov In conclusion, we found a small increase in weekly headache at 4-year follow-up among those in the highest decile of amount of call-time but free of weekly headache at baseline, but it largely disappeared after adjustment for confounders. There was no clear gradient in occurrence of weekly headache with amount of call- time. Any association between call-time and weekly headaches was limited to call-time in the third-generation UMTS network and was not found for the older GSM system characterized by higher RF-EMF exposure levels. This suggests that other factors related to the amount of mobile phone use (e.g. lifestyle, when and how the phone is used) may explain the weak association, rather than an effect of RF-EMF. We observed no association in our prospective study with occurrence of tinnitus or hearing loss. My note: An alternative explanation is that UMTS is more biologically active than GSM even though the power density is lower. Also, it's no surprise that the association between the exposure and the health outcome largely disappears after adjustment for confounders because some of the confounders were on the causal pathway.

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 typecohort
Effect directionmixed
PopulationMobile phone subscribers in Sweden and Finland participating in COSMOS
Sample size24169
ExposureRF · Baseline recorded call-time; outcomes assessed at 4-year follow-up
Evidence strengthModerateConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Participants in the highest decile of recorded call-time at baseline (>276 min/week) had a weak, suggestive increased frequency of weekly headaches at 4-year follow-up (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95–1.34), with no obvious gradient by increasing call-time (P trend 0.06). The headache association was reported as stronger for UMTS than GSM despite GSM involving higher RF-EMF exposure. Tinnitus and hearing loss showed no association with call-time.

Outcomes measured

  • headache
  • tinnitus
  • hearing loss

Limitations

  • Association for weekly headache was weak and largely disappeared after adjustment for confounders
  • No clear dose-response gradient for weekly headache with increasing call-time (P trend 0.06)
  • Exposure metric was call-time from operator records (RF-EMF exposure not directly quantified in the abstract)
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "cohort",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "Baseline recorded call-time; outcomes assessed at 4-year follow-up"
  },
  "population": "Mobile phone subscribers in Sweden and Finland participating in COSMOS",
  "sample_size": 24169,
  "outcomes": [
    "headache",
    "tinnitus",
    "hearing loss"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Participants in the highest decile of recorded call-time at baseline (>276 min/week) had a weak, suggestive increased frequency of weekly headaches at 4-year follow-up (adjusted OR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95–1.34), with no obvious gradient by increasing call-time (P trend 0.06). The headache association was reported as stronger for UMTS than GSM despite GSM involving higher RF-EMF exposure. Tinnitus and hearing loss showed no association with call-time.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Association for weekly headache was weak and largely disappeared after adjustment for confounders",
    "No clear dose-response gradient for weekly headache with increasing call-time (P trend 0.06)",
    "Exposure metric was call-time from operator records (RF-EMF exposure not directly quantified in the abstract)"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "moderate",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "COSMOS",
    "prospective cohort",
    "mobile phone use",
    "RF-EMF",
    "call-time",
    "headache",
    "tinnitus",
    "hearing loss",
    "GSM",
    "UMTS",
    "Sweden",
    "Finland"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": []
}
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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: 10.1093/ije/dyz127
PubMed: Not supplied

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