ID Number		1158
Study Type		Human / Provocation
Model		Mobile phone exposure (undefined signal) to human volunteers and symptoms (headaches & other subjective disorders), cognition, body composition and lifestyle.
Details		Human volunteers (n=437) form the College of Medicine at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia were given a written questionnaire and/or interviewed on mobile phone use and complaints of headache, fatigue, sleep disturbance, tension, and dizziness. Exposure assessment was performed by questionnaire, and subjects were divided into five groups based on estimated duration of incoming and outgoing calls per day (1.5 to 10 minutes, n=260; 10 to 30 minutes, n=98; 30 to 60 minutes, n=46; 60 to 120 minutes, n=20; more than 120 minutes, n=11). Correlations were observed with headache; although there was no dose response, and the lowest use group reported the most headaches. There was a non-statistically significant trend of fatigue with years of mobile phone use. The authors conclude that the "use of mobile phones is a risk factor for health hazards" and recommend "excessive use of mobile phones should be avoided by health promotion activities such as group discussions, public presentations and through electronic and print media." (http://www.smj.org.sa/DetailArticle.asp?ArticleId=1887). In a related study, volunteers (n = 873) were administered a similar questionairre focusing on correlations between mobile phone use and hearing and vision symptoms. In this study, the authors report a statistically significant association with hearing (impaired hearing, ear ache and/or warmth on the ear) and vision (decreased and/or blurred vision) complaints. They conclude mobile phone use is a health risk factor, excessive use avoided, and social awareness increased. A study in 2009 distributed a questionnaire to students (n = 330) and asked about mobile phone use and headache, concentration, memory, fatigue, sleep, hearing, skin disease, and warmth around the ear. In addition to reporting a 77% penetration rate of mobile phones among college students, the authors report associations with all of these endpoints. AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Al-Khlaiwi et al. 2022 (#9091): Background: This study aimed to compare the effects of mobile phone usage and physical activity on HbA1c, body composition, and lifestyle among male Saudi Arabian mobile phone users. Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 2020 to July 2021. The study sample consisted of 203 non-smoker male Saudi participants aged from 20 to 60 years who used mobile phones. Personal information was obtained through interviews using a proforma. The participants were divided into three groups according to their daily mobile phone usage: Group (1): less than 2 h, Group (2): 2-3 h, and Group (3): more than 3 h, and according to their physical activities: Group (1): sedentary, Group (2): average, and Group (3): athletes. Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c), Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), and (SF) 36- items survey was performed. Results: The mean age of 203 Saudi male adult participants was 28.0 ± 10.4 years. Mobile phone usage in the less than 2 h group was (33.5%), between 2-3 h (22.7%), and more than 3 h (43.8%) respectively. The mean age of Group (3), who used mobile phones for more than 3 h, was the lowest (23.9 ± 5.7). The results showed that HbA1C levels were almost equal in all three groups (5.8 ± 0.4, 5.7 ± 0.4, and 5.7 ± 0.3 respectively). In addition, emotional well-being and social functioning showed insignificant decreases in the more than 3 h group compared to other groups of mobile phone usage (69.3 ± 15.7, 70.9 ± 15.5, 65.2 ± 16.0, p = .091 and 82.9 ± 201, 81.2 ± 18.7, 77.6 ± 21.6, p = .267) respectively. No effect was detected between groups regarding various body compositions. Regarding physical activity classifications: the sedentary group constituted (36%) of the sample, whereas the average and athlete groups represented (53.7%) and (10.3%) of the total sample respectively. There was a significant decrease in BMI (29.6 ± 7.8, 25.3 ± 5.1,24.7 ± 5.6, p = .000), fat mass (24.7 ± 15.0, 17.1 ± 9.1, 15.3 ± 10.6, p = .000), and free fat mass (64.0 ± 10.2, 56.8 ± 8.7, 57.5 ± 8.0, p = .000) in the average and the athletic groups compared to the sedentary group. No significant difference was found in HbA1c between physical activity groups (5.8 ± 0.4, 5.7 ± 0.4, 5.7 ± 0.4, p = .218). Conclusions: Mobile phone usage does not affect HbA1c and body composition parameters. Furthermore, we found the youngers used mobile phones longer than others. Insignificant decrease in emotional well-being and social functioning parameters of the style of life due to long mobile phone usage which needs more attention.
Findings		Effects (poor study design)
Status		Completed With Publication
Principal Investigator		King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Funding Agency		Saudi Arabia Deanship of Scientific Research, King
Country		SAUDI ARABIA
References		Khan, MM Int J Occup Med Environ Health, (2008) 21:289-293 Meo, SA et al. Int J Occup Med Environ Health, (2005) 18:53-57 Al-Khlaiwi , T et al. Saudi Medical Journal , (2004) 25:732-736 Meo, SA et al. American Journal of Men's Health , (2018) 0:1557988318816914:- Al-Khlaiwi, T et al. Heliyon., (2022) 8:e10646-
Comments		Exposure assessment was crude at best (no determination of actual SAR levels, power control, type of signal, etc) and equally problematic made no attempt to blind respondents to the relationship of interest with regard to mobile phone use and subjective disorders. The authors conclusions went way beyond the data.