Risk of Accidents or Chronic Disorders From Improper Use of Mobile Phones: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of medical Internet research Vol. 24; no. 1; p. e21313
• Main Authors: Cao, Xinxi, Cheng, Yangyang, Xu, Chenjie, Hou, Yabing, Yang, Hongxi, Li, Shu, Gao, Ying, Jia, Peng, Wang, Yaogang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Journal of Medical Internet Research 20.01.2022; Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, Associate Professor; JMIR Publications
• Subjects: Accidents; Antigens; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Brain cancer; Cell Phone; Cellular telephones; Chronic Disease; DNA damage; Eye diseases; Fear & phobias; Headaches; Human body; Humans; Mental disorders; Mental health; Meta-analysis; Mobile phones; Multimedia; Neoplasms; Nonuse; Prostate; Radiation; Review; Risk factors; Services; Sleep disorders; Systematic review; Traffic accidents & safety; Tumors; Wireless communication systems; United States > US; China; neoplasm; cell phone; radiation; mobile phone; accident
• ISSN: 1438-8871; 1439-4456; 1438-8871
• DOI: 10.2196/21313

Mobile phone use has brought convenience, but the long or improper use of mobile phones can cause harm to the human body. We aimed to assess the impact of improper mobile phone use on the risks of accidents and chronic disorders. We systematically searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases for studies published prior to April 5, 2019; relevant reviews were also searched to identify additional studies. A random-effects model was used to calculate the overall pooled estimates. Mobile phone users had a higher risk of accidents (relative risk [RR] 1.37, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.55). Long-term use of mobile phones increased accident risk relative to nonuse or short-term use (RR 2.10, 95% CI 1.63 to 2.70). Compared with nonuse, mobile phone use resulted in a higher risk for neoplasms (RR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.14), eye diseases (RR 2.03, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.23), mental health disorders (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.32), and headaches (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.32); the pooled risk of other chronic disorders was 1.20 (95% CI 0.90 to 1.59). Subgroup analyses also confirmed the increased risk of accidents and chronic disorders. Improper use of mobile phones can harm the human body. While enjoying the convenience brought by mobile phones, people have to use mobile phones properly and reasonably.