Study of the Pattern of Cell Phone Usage Associated With Side Effects Among University Students: Case Study in a Malaysian University

ABSTRACT

@#Introduction: Cell phone is a device that has been used almost every day for all age groups. It connects everyone and everything around the world as it provides various social platforms. However, not many people realized that cell phone is a source of non-ionizing electromagnetic waves that can be associated with various physical effects. Therefore, the aim of this research is to identify the physical side effects associated with exposure to the electromagnetic waves emitted by cell phone use and to detect if these effects are associated with specific pattern of use. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 166 participants randomly selected from university students. Results: showed that those suffering side effects associated with cell phone usage are usually using more than one cell phone (79%) since about 5 – 10 years (41.9%) for more than 5 hours daily (65.7%) for entertainment (34.3%) and making about 1-5 calls daily (41%) with average call duration 1 – 30 min (56.2%). 66.7% of them started using cell phone at age 7 – 12 years old, mostly handheld (61%), at their right side (40%), at all times of the day (64.8%). Most common side effects associated with cell phone usage include ear pain (52.4%), headache (79.5%), fatigue, anxiety or insomnia (57.8%), tremors and eye pain beside statistically significant (P<0.05) complain of dry mouth (56.6%) and/or bad odor mouth (46.4%). Conclusion: There is a specific pattern associated with occurrence of side effects due to cell phone use.