The prevalence of symptoms attributed to electromagnetic field exposure: a cross-sectional representative survey in Switzerland.

Sozial- und Praventivmedizin Pub Date : 2006-01-01 DOI:10.1007/s00038-006-5061-2

Nadja Schreier, Anke Huss, Martin Röösli

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引用次数: 159

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate health risk perception as well as to assess the prevalence of self-reported symptoms attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and other environmental exposures in the general population of Switzerland.

Methods: Between May and June 2004, telephone interviews of a representative sample of the Swiss population (n=2048, >14 years old) about: (1) health symptoms attributed to five environmental factors (one of which was EMF), (2) health risk perception related to 12 environmental risk factors (five of which were different EMF sources).

Results: We found a prevalence of 5% (95% CI 4-6%) for electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in our study sample. The most common health complaints among EHS individuals were sleep disorders (43%) and headaches (34%), which were mostly attributed to power lines and mobile phone handsets. In addition, 53 percent (95% CI 51-55%) were worried about adverse health effects from EMF, without attributing their own health symptoms to them.

Conclusions: The large proportion of the population who is concerned or attributes own symptoms to EMF may cause societal conflicts given the ubiquity of EMF in our everyday life.

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电磁场暴露引起的症状的流行:瑞士的一项代表性横断面调查。

目的:调查健康风险认知，并评估瑞士普通人群中由电磁场(EMF)和其他环境暴露引起的自我报告症状的流行程度。方法:在2004年5月至6月期间，对瑞士人口的代表性样本(n=2048， >14岁)进行了电话访谈，内容包括:(1)与五种环境因素(其中一种是电磁场)有关的健康症状，(2)与12种环境风险因素(其中五种是不同的电磁场源)有关的健康风险认知。结果:我们发现在我们的研究样本中，电磁超敏反应(EHS)的患病率为5% (95% CI为4-6%)。EHS患者中最常见的健康抱怨是睡眠障碍(43%)和头痛(34%)，这主要归因于电线和移动电话。此外，53%(95%可信区间51-55%)担心EMF对健康的不良影响，但没有将自己的健康症状归咎于此。结论:考虑到EMF在我们日常生活中无处不在，很大一部分人担心或将自己的症状归因于EMF，可能会引起社会冲突。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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Sozial- und Praventivmedizin

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