ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2019
Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Low Evidence for Tinnitus Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2023Pooled it
- An Experimental Study of Effects of Media Implication on Self-Report Symptoms Related With MP Use.Frontiers in public health · 2020Trial
- The WHO-commissioned systematic reviews on health effects of radiofrequency radiation provide no assurance of safety.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Review
- Analysis of the Association of Mobile Phone Usage and Hearing Function in Young Adults.Cureus · 2025Article
- Use of Mobile Phones and Radiofrequency-Emitting Devices in the COSMOS-France Cohort.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- The mediating effect of rumination and fear of missing out between mobile phone addiction and sleep quality among college students.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mental Health Problems During COVID-19 and Attitudes Toward Digital Therapeutics.Psychiatry investigation · 2023Article
- Mobile phone addiction and depression among Chinese medical students: the mediating role of sleep quality and the moderating role of peer relationships.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Smartphones, the Epidemic of the 21st Century: A Possible Source of Addictions and Neuropsychiatric Consequences.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Review
- The effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields exposure on tinnitus, migraine and non-specific symptoms in the general and working population: A protocol for a systematic review on human observational studies.Environment international · 2021Article
- The effect of exposure to radiofrequency fields on cancer risk in the general and working population: A protocol for a systematic review of human observational studies.Environment international · 2021Article
- Effects of excessive use of mobile phone technology in India on human health during COVID-19 lockdown.Technology in society · 2021Article
- Long-term effect of mobile phone use on sleep quality: Results from the cohort study of mobile phone use and health (COSMOS).Environment international · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 8 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMobile phone use and exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from it have been associated with symptoms in some studies, but the studies have shortcomings and their findings are inconsistent. We conducted a prospective cohort study to assess the association between amount of mobile phone use at baseline and frequency of headache, tinnitus or hearing loss at 4-year follow-up.
methodsThe participants had mobile phone subscriptions with major mobile phone network operators in Sweden (n = 21 049) and Finland (n = 3120), gave consent for obtaining their mobile phone call data from operator records at baseline, and filled in both baseline and follow-up questionnaires on symptoms, potential confounders and further characteristics of their mobile phone use.
resultsThe participants with the highest decile of recorded call-time (average call-time >276 min per week) at baseline showed a weak, suggestive increased frequency of weekly headaches at 4-year follow-up (adjusted odds ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 0.95-1.34). There was no obvious gradient of weekly headache with increasing call-time (P trend 0.06). The association of headache with call-time was stronger for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network than older Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) technology, despite the latter involving higher exposure to RF-EMF. Tinnitus and hearing loss showed no association with call-time.
conclusionsPeople using mobile phones most extensively for making or receiving calls at baseline reported weekly headaches slightly more frequently at follow-up than other users, but this finding largely disappeared after adjustment for confounders and was not related to call-time in GSM with higher RF-EMF exposure. Tinnitus and hearing loss were not associated with amount of call-time.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.