Psychological symptoms and health-related quality of life in idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields.

Journal of psychosomatic research · 2016 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 4866

Study snapshot

PublicationJournal of psychosomatic research · 2016

Study typecase_control

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Need for better understanding of the etiology of idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) motivated the present study of psychological symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in person who attribute health problems to electromagnetic fields. METHODS: Participants with IEI-EMF (n=114) and a population-based sample of referents (n=104) were investigated with six subscales of the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) to assess psychological symptoms, and with eight subscales of the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) to assess HRQoL. RESULTS: Significantly higher scores were found on obsessive/compulsive behavior, interpersonal hypersensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts in the IEI-EMF group compared to referents, whereas only a tendency of such a difference was found for psychotism. Furthermore, poorer HRQoL in the IEI-EMF group, compared to referents, were found regarding physical and social functioning, physical and emotional role limitations, general health, vitality, bodily pain, and mental health. Significant correlation with moderate to strong effect sizes were found between several of the SCL-90 and SF-36 subscales. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that IEI-EMF is associated with various types of psychological symptoms and with poor HRQoL. Clinical implications include theoretical support for cognitive behavioral therapy, and, although further research is needed, that attention should be directed towards feelings of inferiority and uneasiness in relationships as well as anger, hostility and resentment towards other people.

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

PopulationParticipants with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) and population-based referents

Sample size218

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Compared with population-based referents, the IEI-EMF group had significantly higher scores on several SCL-90 subscales (obsessive/compulsive behavior, interpersonal hypersensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts), with only a tendency for a difference in psychotism. The IEI-EMF group also reported poorer HRQoL across multiple SF-36 domains, and several SCL-90 and SF-36 subscales were moderately to strongly correlated.

Outcomes measured

Psychological symptoms (SCL-90 subscales)
Health-related quality of life (SF-36 subscales)
Correlations between psychological symptoms and HRQoL subscales

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "case_control",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "electromagnetic fields (self-attributed)",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Participants with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF) and population-based referents",
  "sample_size": 218,
  "outcomes": [
    "Psychological symptoms (SCL-90 subscales)",
    "Health-related quality of life (SF-36 subscales)",
    "Correlations between psychological symptoms and HRQoL subscales"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Compared with population-based referents, the IEI-EMF group had significantly higher scores on several SCL-90 subscales (obsessive/compulsive behavior, interpersonal hypersensitivity, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thoughts), with only a tendency for a difference in psychotism. The IEI-EMF group also reported poorer HRQoL across multiple SF-36 domains, and several SCL-90 and SF-36 subscales were moderately to strongly correlated.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields",
    "IEI-EMF",
    "electromagnetic fields",
    "psychological symptoms",
    "SCL-90",
    "health-related quality of life",
    "HRQoL",
    "SF-36",
    "case-control"
  ],
  "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: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.03.006
PubMed: 27095153

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