ArticleEnvironment international2017
Maternal cell phone use during pregnancy and child behavioral problems in five birth cohorts.
Article in Environment international, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Screen Time, Nature, and Development: Baseline of the Randomized Controlled Study "Screen-free till 3".Developmental science · 2025Trial
- A review of potential health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure from mobile phones and base stations in children and pregnant women.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Prospective cohort study on non-specific symptoms, cognitive, behavioral, sleep and mental health in relation to electronic media use and transportation noise among adolescents (HERMES): study protocol.Open research Europe · 2024Article
- Effect of prenatal exposure to stress and extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field on hippocampal and serum BDNF levels in male adult rat offspring.Iranian journal of basic medical sciences · 2024Article
- Risk factors of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT): Exposure to mobile phones during pregnancy.Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2024Article
- Review
- Can Prenatal and Postnatal Cell Phone Exposure Increase Adverse Maternal, Infant and Child Outcomes?Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2021Article
- The possible effects of maternal electronic media device usage during pregnancy on children's sleep patterns.Turkish archives of pediatrics · 2021Article
- Effect of maternal sleep, physical activity and screen time during pregnancy on the risk of childhood respiratory allergies: a sex-specific study.Respiratory research · 2020Article
- Association Between Maternal Exposure to Magnetic Field Nonionizing Radiation During Pregnancy and Risk of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring in a Longitudinal Birth Cohort.JAMA network open · 2020Article
- Determinants of Maternal Behavior of Mobile Phone Use during Pregnancy.Journal of healthcare engineering · 2020Article
- Early-Life Exposure to Pulsed LTE Radiofrequency Fields Causes Persistent Changes in Activity and Behavior in C57BL/6 J Mice.Bioelectromagnetics · 2019Article
- Associations of Maternal Cell-Phone Use During Pregnancy With Pregnancy Duration and Fetal Growth in 4 Birth Cohorts.American journal of epidemiology · 2019Article
- Possible Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure on Central Nerve System.Biomolecules & therapeutics · 2019Review
- The associations between maternal lifestyles and antenatal stress and anxiety in Chinese pregnant women: A cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors at 10 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPrevious studies have reported associations between prenatal cell phone use and child behavioral problems, but findings have been inconsistent and based on retrospective assessment of cell phone use. This study aimed to assess this association in a multi-national analysis, using data from three cohorts with prospective data on prenatal cell phone use, together with previously published data from two cohorts with retrospectively collected cell phone use data.
methodsWe used individual participant data from 83,884 mother-child pairs in the five cohorts from Denmark (1996-2002), Korea (2006-2011), the Netherlands (2003-2004), Norway (2004-2008), and Spain (2003-2008). We categorized cell phone use into none, low, medium, and high, based on frequency of calls during pregnancy reported by the mothers. Child behavioral problems (reported by mothers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire or Child Behavior Checklist) were classified in the borderline/clinical and clinical ranges using validated cut-offs in children aged 5-7years. Cohort specific risk estimates were meta-analyzed.
resultsOverall, 38.8% of mothers, mostly from the Danish cohort, reported no cell phone use during pregnancy and these mothers were less likely to have a child with overall behavioral, hyperactivity/inattention or emotional problems. Evidence for a trend of increasing risk of child behavioral problems through the maternal cell phone use categories was observed for hyperactivity/inattention problems (OR for problems in the clinical range: 1.11, 95%CI 1.01, 1.22; 1.28, 95%CI 1.12, 1.48, among children of medium and high users, respectively). This association was fairly consistent across cohorts and between cohorts with retrospectively and prospectively collected cell phone use data.
conclusionsMaternal cell phone use during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk for behavioral problems, particularly hyperactivity/inattention problems, in the offspring. The interpretation of these results is unclear as uncontrolled confounding may influence both maternal cell phone use and child behavioral problems.
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