| Prevalence of Headache among Hand-Held Cellular Telephone Users in Singapore: A Community Study Sin-Eng Chia, Hwee-Pin Chia, and Jit-Seng Tan Department of Community, Occupational & Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Republic of Singapore Abstract
We carried out a cross-sectional community study in Singapore to determine the prevalence of specific central nervous system (CNS) symptoms among hand-held cellular telephone (HP) users compared to nonusers and to study the association of risk factors and CNS symptoms among HP users. A total of 808 men and women between 12 and 70 years of age, who lived in one community, were selected using one-stage cluster random sampling and responses to a structured questionnaire. The prevalence of HP users was 44.8%. Headache was the most prevalent symptom among HP users compared to non-HP users, with an adjusted prevalence rate ratio of 1.31 [95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.70]. There is a significant increase in the prevalence of headache with increasing duration of usage (in minutes per day) . Prevalence of headache was reduced by more than 20% among those who used hand-free equipment for their cellular telephones as compared to those who never use the equipment. The use of HPs is not associated with a significant increase of CNS symptoms other than headache. Key words: cellular telephones, community, cross-sectional study, headaches. Environ Health Perspect 108:1059-1062 (2000) . [Online 16 October 2000] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2000/108p1059-1062chia/ abstract.html Address correspondence to S-E. Chia, Department of Community, Occupational & Family Medicine (MD3) , Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 16 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Republic of Singapore. Telephone: 65-874-4989. Fax: 65-7791489. E-mail: cofcse@nus.edu.sg We thank the staff of the Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine (COFM) and medical students of the 2000 community health project (Group 1) for their help. This study was part of a community health project carried out in January 2000 by the COFM, National University of Singapore. Received 31 May 2000 ; accepted 5 July 2000.
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