Acute effects of the electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones on attention in emergency physicians

Abstract Study objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of the electromagnetic waves (EMW) emitted by mobile phones on attention in emergency physicians. Methods This single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical study was performed among emergency physicians in a tertiary hospital. Thirty emergency physicians were enrolled in the study. Initial d2 test was applied in the evaluation of attention and concentration of all the physicians, who were randomly assigned into one of two groups. The control group members hold mobile phones in ‘off’ mode to their left ears for 15 min. The members of the intervention group hold mobile phones in ‘on’ mode to their left ears for 15 min, thus exposing them to 900–1800 MHz EMW. The d2 test was re-applied to both groups after this procedure. Differences in attention and concentration levels between the groups were compared. Results Difference between initial and final d2 test in total performance (TN-E, p = 0.319), in total number of figures marked (TN, p = 0.177), in test performance percentile (PR, p = 0.619) and in attention fluctuation (FR, p = 0.083) were similar between the groups. However, difference in the number of figures missed (E1 selective attention, p = 0.025), difference between numbers of incorrectly marked figures (E2, p = 0,018) and difference in focus levels (E, p = 0.016) were significantly in favor of the intervention group. Conclusion According to our study findings, the EMW emitted by mobile phones has no deleterious effect on the attention and concentration levels of emergency physicians, and even has a positive impact on selective attention levels.