In a large study of 212,046 participants, mobile phone use for making or receiving calls was significantly associated with a higher risk of new-onset hypertension, especially among high-frequency users. https://academic.oup.com/ehjdh/advance- ... 24/7131479
Note: The study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2009600, 2022YFC2009605), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81973133, 81730019).
We especially thank all the participants of the UK Biobank and all the people involved in building the UK Biobank study. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application Number 73201.
Hypertension is one of the leading preventable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and premature death worldwide.
The global age-standardized prevalence of raised blood pressure was 24.1% in men and 20.1% in women in 2015.
In recent years, mobile phones have become a device of everyday life around the world, with an estimated 8.2 billion subscriptions worldwide in 2020.
This raises important questions about the safety of using a mobile phone to make or receive calls, especially for heavy users.
Some studies in animals or human cells, for example, suggested that long-term exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones was related to oxidative stress, increased inflammation, and DNA damage, all of which could lead to the development of hypertension.
“Our findings suggest that talking on a mobile may not affect the risk of developing high blood pressure as long as weekly call time is kept below half an hour,” said Southern Medical University’s Professor Xianhui Qin, senior author of the study.
“More research is required to replicate the results, but until then it seems prudent to keep mobile phone calls to a minimum to preserve heart health.”
Professor Qin and colleagues used data from a total of 212 046 participants aged 37 to 73 years without prior hypertension in the UK Biobank.
Information on the use of a mobile phone to make and receive calls was collected through a self-reported touchscreen questionnaire at baseline, including years of use, hours per week, and using a hands-free device/speakerphone.
Participants who used a mobile phone at least once a week to make or receive calls were defined as mobile phone users.
During a median follow up of 12 years, 13,984 (7%) participants developed hypertension.
Mobile phone users had a 7% higher risk of hypertension compared with non-users.
Those who talked on their mobile for 30 minutes or more per week had a 12% greater likelihood of new-onset high blood pressure than participants who spent less than 30 minutes on phone calls. The results were similar for women and men.
Looking at the findings in more detail, compared to participants who spent less than 5 minutes per week making or receiving mobile phone calls, weekly usage time of 30-59 minutes, 1-3 hours, 4-6 hours and more than 6 hours was associated with an 8%, 13%, 16% and 25% raised risk of high blood pressure, respectively.
Among mobile phone users, years of use and employing a hands-free device/speakerphone were not significantly related to the development of hypertension.
The researchers also examined the relationship between usage time (less than 30 minutes vs. 30 minutes or more) and new-onset hypertension according to whether participants had a low, intermediate or high genetic risk of developing hypertension. Genetic risk was determined using data in the UK Biobank.
The analysis showed that the likelihood of developing high blood pressure was greatest in those with high genetic risk who spent at least 30 minutes a week talking on a mobile — they had a 33% higher likelihood of hypertension compared to those with low genetic risk who spent less than 30 minutes a week on the phone.
“Mobile phone use for making or receiving calls was significantly associated with a higher risk of new-onset hypertension, especially in those with a longer weekly usage time, among the general population,” the authors said.
“Our findings and the underlying mechanisms should be further evaluated in more studies.”
“If further confirmed, our study suggests that reducing the time spent using mobile phones to make or receive calls may play a role in the primary prevention of hypertension in the general population.”
The study was published in the European Heart Journal – Digital Health.
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