Some mobile phone associated health problems among mobile phone workers at Zagazig City, Sharkia governorate

Abstract EN

Background : although mobile telecommunications deliver enormous benefit to society, there are concerns whether its electric and magnetic field emissions are linked with cancer or other health hazards.

Objectives : 1) determining some of the mobile phone(Mph) associated health problems.

2) Identifying some of the risk factors associated with exposure to Mph.

Subjects and methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 125 workers in mobile phone shops at Zagazig City, Sharkia Governorate and non-exposed control group consisted of 119 Mph users group and 29 Mph nonusers group.

All workers were interviewed using a pre-designed questionnaire including sociodemographic data, occupational history, Mph exposure & health complaints experienced during Mph working period and all workers were subjected to blood pressure measurement.

Results: The results revealed that, the prevalence of sleep disturbances and tension was significantly higher in Mph workers (48.8 % & 60.0 %) compared to Mph non-users control group (17.2%, 31.0 % and P < 0.001), while the prevalence of recurrent migraine was significantly higher in Mph workers (27.2 %) compared to their controls (16.4%, 6.9 % and P < 0.05).

The prevalence of earache, pain with heat sensation around the ear and eye allergy was significantly higher in Mph workers (7.2 %, 30.4 % and 17.6 %) compared to Mph users control group(1.7 %, 18.1 % and 6.3 % and P < 0.05 & P < 0.01 respectively), while there were no significant differences between Mph workers and their controls as regard blood pressure measurement, cardiovascular complaints and occurrence of traffic accidents during using Mph while driving.

The prevalence of sleep disturbances, pain with heat sensation around the ear and eye allergy were significantly increased with increasing Mph work duration in months and the total duration of exposure to Mphs in hours among Mph workers.

Conclusion and recommendations: Working with Mphs led to increase in the prevalence of some health problems in the nervous system, ear, and eye among Mph workers.

Sleep disturbances, pain with heat sensation around ear and eye allergy were increased with increasing Mph work duration in months and the total duration of exposure to Mphs.

Mph workers must know about the common sense basis for reducing their exposure to Mphs through public information campaigns.

Replication of the study on a large scale with other types of epidemiological studies are needed for further establishment of the perceived health effects among Mph workers.