Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 1 ), 55 – 64 © SFRP , 2024 https :// doi . org / 10.1051 / radiopro / 2023038
Available online at : www . radioprotection . org
ARTICLE
Knowledge , risk perception and information needs of general practitioners regarding potential health effects of electromagnetic fields : A scoping review of the scientific literature
F . Forster 1 , L . Ermel 2 , C . Riesmeyer 2 , R . Jung 3 , K . Lüthy 1 , P . Wullinger 1 and T . Weinmann 1 ,*
1 Institute and Clinic for Occupational , Social and Environmental Medicine , LMU University Hospital , LMU Munich , Munich , Germany . 2 Department of Media and Communication , Faculty of Social Sciences , LMU Munich , Munich , Germany . 3 Berufsverband der Kinder- und Jugendärzte ( BVKJ ), Cologne , Germany .
Received : 15 May 2023 / Accepted : 24 October 2023
Abstract – We aimed to summarise the evidence regarding the knowledge , risk perception and information needs of general practitioners ( GPs ) regarding electromagnetic fields ( EMF ). To achieve this aim , we searched for relevant articles in PubMed and additional sources , screened them based on the inclusion criteria and extracted relevant information from the eligible articles . Included manuscripts were summarised via narrative synthesis . Out of 274 records , nine articles from five different studies ( all from Europe ) were included . All studies reported considerable concern about the possible negative health-effects caused by EMF among GPs . In most of the studies GPs , indicated insufficiently covered information needs concerning EMF . Four studies reported that GPs were consulted by patients regarding potential health effects of EMF . The level of concern regarding health effects of EMF among GPs is high , while their information needs are insufficiently satisfied . It remains unclear what factors determine this concern . Likewise , there is little data on GPs ’ actual level of knowledge on EMF and health . Future studies may take new perspectives such as concepts from communication science and use additional methods like qualitative techniques . Moreover , the communication of scientific evidence about EMF towards GPs needs to be improved in order to enable them to provide evidence-based counselling .
Keywords : Risk communication / education / health effect / public information / patient protection
1 Introduction
High- and low-frequency electromagnetic fields ( EMF ) are ubiquitous in the everyday life of the general population around the world . This is due , on the one hand , to the widespread use of communication technologies , such as mobile phones and electrical household devices and on the other hand , to the omnipresence of high-voltage power lines and mobile phone base stations ( Jalilian et al ., 2019 , Regrain et al ., 2020 ). Consequently , possible health-damaging effects of EMF are of very high relevance and interest for public health .
Health-related endpoints discussed in connection with EMF include neoplasms ( regarding phone use especially brain tumours ( Interphone Study Group , 2010 , Castaño-Vinyals et al ., 2021 )), childhood leukaemia ( Amoon et al ., 2022 ), neurological and neurodegenerative diseases ( Frei et al ., 2013 , Funk and Fähnle , 2021 ), sleep disorders ( Tettamanti et al ., 2020 ,
* e-mail : tobias . weinmann @ med . lmu . de
Cabré-Riera et al ., 2022 ), non-specific symptoms ( Durusoy et al ., 2017 , Röösli et al ., 2021 ), cognitive impairment ( Cabré- Riera et al ., 2021 ) and behavioural deficits in children ( Birks et al ., 2017 ). Thus far , the numerous studies so far provide little evidence for adverse health effects of EMF , even though there are isolated indications , for example , of a possible association between exposure to low-frequency EMF and childhood leukaemia ( Grellier et al ., 2014 ) and Alzheimer ’ s disease ( Huss et al ., 2009 ) as well as pre- and postnatal exposure to high-frequency EMF and behavioural problems in primary school children ( Birks et al ., 2017 ). However , these potential associations cannot yet be explained in a biologically plausible way and it remains unclear if they are causal .
Despite the lack of clear evidence for adverse health effects of EMF exposure , some surveys point towards considerable concern in the general population about such effects . For instance , regular surveys in the German general population reported that about one-fifth of the interviewees indicated concern about the potential detrimental effects of EMF exposure ( Götte und Ludewig , 2019 ). Relatively high estimates regarding the concern in the general population