Ownership and use of wireless telephones: a population-based study of Swedish children aged 7-14 years.

BMC public health · 2007 · Unclear · Low evidence

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UnclearLow evidencePaper 6456

In a population-based questionnaire study (71.2% response rate), 79.1% reported mobile phone access and 26.7% of those talked for ≥2 minutes/day; only 5.9% reported hands-free use. Cordless phone use was reported by 83.8%, and 38.5% of those talked for ≥5 min…

Study snapshot

PublicationBMC public health · 2007

Study typecross_sectional

Reported directionUnclear

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the use of mobile phones and other sources of microwave radiation, raising concerns about possible adverse health effects. As children have longer expected lifetime exposures to microwaves from these devices than adults, who started to use them later in life, they are a group of special interest. METHODS: We performed a population-based study to assess ownership and use of mobile phones and cordless phones among children aged 7-14 years. A questionnaire comprising 24 questions was sent to 2000 persons selected from the Swedish population registry using a stratified sampling scheme. RESULTS: The response rate was 71.2%. Overall, 79.1% of the respondents reported mobile phone access, and 26.7% of them talked for 2 minutes or more per day. Of those who reported mobile phone access, only 5.9% reported use of hands-free equipment. Use of cordless phones was reported by 83.8% of the respondents and 38.5% of them talked for 5 minutes or more per day. Girls generally reported more frequent use than boys. CONCLUSION: This study showed that most children had access to and used mobile and cordless phones early in life and that there was a rapid increase in use with age. It also showed very low use of hands-free equipment among children with mobile phone access, and finally that girls talked significantly more minutes per day using mobile and cordless phones than boys did.

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 directionunclear

PopulationSwedish children aged 7–14 years

Sample size2000

Exposuremicrowave

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Ownership/access to mobile phones
Use of mobile phones (minutes per day; hands-free use)
Use of cordless phones (minutes per day)
Differences in use by age and sex

Limitations

Exposure and use were self-reported via questionnaire
No health outcomes were assessed (study focused on ownership and use patterns)
Frequency/SAR and other technical exposure metrics were not reported in the abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "cross_sectional",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "microwave",
    "source": "mobile phone and cordless phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Swedish children aged 7–14 years",
  "sample_size": 2000,
  "outcomes": [
    "Ownership/access to mobile phones",
    "Use of mobile phones (minutes per day; hands-free use)",
    "Use of cordless phones (minutes per day)",
    "Differences in use by age and sex"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In a population-based questionnaire study (71.2% response rate), 79.1% reported mobile phone access and 26.7% of those talked for ≥2 minutes/day; only 5.9% reported hands-free use. Cordless phone use was reported by 83.8%, and 38.5% of those talked for ≥5 minutes/day; girls reported more frequent use than boys and use increased with age.",
  "effect_direction": "unclear",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure and use were self-reported via questionnaire",
    "No health outcomes were assessed (study focused on ownership and use patterns)",
    "Frequency/SAR and other technical exposure metrics were not reported in the abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "children",
    "Sweden",
    "mobile phone",
    "cordless phone",
    "wireless telephone",
    "microwave radiation",
    "questionnaire",
    "usage patterns",
    "hands-free"
  ],
  "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: 10.1186/1471-2458-7-105
PubMed: 17561999

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