6,486 Studies Reviewed. 85.2% of Original Studies Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body
Symptoms & Sensitivity144 citations

Preliminary report: symptoms associated with mobile phone use.

Measurement survey

Hocking, B · 1998

View Original Abstract
Share:

A survey of Forty respondents found that mobile phone use was associated with a burning feeling or a dull ache mainly occurring in the temporal, occipital or auricular areas, often beginning minutes after a call and usually ceasing within an hour.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers conducted a survey to characterize symptoms associated with mobile phone usage. Forty respondents from diverse occupations described unpleasant sensations such as a burning feeling or a dull ache mainly occurring in the temporal, occipital or auricular areas. The symptoms often began minutes after beginning a call and usually ceased within an hour after the call, though they could last until evening. Seventy-five per cent of cases were associated with digital mobile phones. Most of the respondents obtained relief by altering their patterns of telephone usage or type of phone.

Why This Matters

Symptoms did not occur when using an ordinary handset and were different from ordinary headaches. Three respondents reported local symptoms associated with wearing their mobile phone on their belts, and there was one cluster of cases in a workplace. The authors noted that further work is needed to determine the range of effects, their mechanism and the possible implications for safety limits of RFR.

Study Details

A survey has been conducted to characterize the symptoms sometimes associated with mobile phone usage

A notice of interest in cases was placed in a major medical journal and this was publicized by the m...

Forty respondents from diverse occupations described unpleasant sensations such as a burning feeling...

Further work is needed to determine the range of effects, their mechanism and the possible implications for safety limits of RFR.

Cite This Study
Hocking, B (1998). Preliminary report: symptoms associated with mobile phone use. Occup Med (Lond);48(6):357-360, 1998.
Show BibTeX
@article{hocking_1998_preliminary_report_symptoms_associated_2196,
  author = {Hocking and B},
  title = {Preliminary report: symptoms associated with mobile phone use.},
  year = {1998},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10024730/},
}
PubMed: 10024730

Cited By (144 papers)

View all 144 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Respondents described unpleasant sensations such as a burning feeling or a dull ache mainly occurring in the temporal, occipital or auricular areas.
The symptoms often began minutes after beginning a call and usually ceased within an hour after the call, though they could last until evening.
Seventy-five per cent of cases were associated with digital mobile phones.
Most of the respondents obtained relief by altering their patterns of telephone usage or type of phone.
A notice of interest in cases was placed in a major medical journal and this was publicized by the media, and respondents were interviewed by telephone using a structured questionnaire.