Comparison of symptoms experienced by users of analogue and digital mobile phones: a Swedish-Norwegian epidemiological study.
Hanson Mild, K, Oftedal, G, Sandstrom, M, Wilen, J, Tynes, T, Haugsdal, B, Hauger E · 1998
View Original AbstractHeavier mobile phone use correlated with more headaches and fatigue regardless of phone technology, highlighting the importance of limiting talk time.
Plain English Summary
Swedish and Norwegian researchers compared symptoms between users of older analog mobile phones (NMT) and newer digital phones (GSM) in a large study of over 17,000 people. Surprisingly, they found that digital phone users actually reported fewer symptoms like warmth sensations around the ear compared to analog users, contradicting their initial hypothesis. However, both phone types showed a clear pattern: the more people talked on their phones, the more they experienced symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and ear warmth.
Why This Matters
This 1998 study provides important context for understanding mobile phone health effects, particularly because it compares different technologies rather than just looking at phone use versus no use. The finding that digital GSM phones produced fewer symptoms than analog NMT phones challenges simple assumptions about newer technology being worse. However, the dose-response relationship the researchers found is significant: regardless of phone type, heavier users consistently reported more symptoms. This pattern aligns with what we see across EMF research - exposure duration and intensity matter. What makes this study particularly valuable is its large sample size and the fact that it captured the transition period between analog and digital mobile technology, offering insights we can't replicate today.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
Our main hypothesis was that GSM users experience more symptoms than NMT users. A cross-sectional epidemiological investigation was initiated including 6379 GSM users and 5613 NMT users in Sweden, and 2500 from each category in Norway
The people were randomly selected from subscription registers where a company was the subscriber, bu...
The estimated adjusted response rates were 64% for Norway and 76% for Sweden. The response rates wer...
Show BibTeX
@article{mild_1998_comparison_of_symptoms_experienced_2153,
author = {Hanson Mild and K and Oftedal and G and Sandstrom and M and Wilen and J and Tynes and T and Haugsdal and B and Hauger E},
title = {Comparison of symptoms experienced by users of analogue and digital mobile phones: a Swedish-Norwegian epidemiological study.},
year = {1998},
url = {http://nile.lub.lu.se/arbarch/arb/1998/arb1998_23.pdf},
}