Is perception key in predicting health symptoms? A study of perceived and modelled environmental exposures.

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This was a cohort study that examined the association between health symptoms and perceived and actual modelled environmental exposure of the participants. The environmental exposures included in the study were radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF), noise and air pollution. The study originally in 2012 had 14,829 participants, however, in the 2015 follow-up only 7905 people responded. Perceived exposure was assessed using questionnaires in which participants self-assessed the extent to which they believed they were exposed to RF EMF on a scale of 1 to 6. The participants also completed questionnaires to assess their non-specific symptoms, sleep disturbances and respiratory symptoms, respectively. Lastly, the RF EMF exposure at each participant’s residence was modelled as either high (above 0.050 mW/m2) or low (below 0.050 mW/m2). The study found that the modelled RF EMF was not associated with any health symptoms. However, the perceived RF EMF exposure was associated with higher health symptoms in all categories. The authors suggest that when examining environmental exposure symptoms it is important to examine the perception of exposure to avoid bias when attributing health effects.

Modeled and perceived RF-EMF, noise and air pollution and symptoms in a population cohort. Is perception key in predicting sympt

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A study by Baliatsas et al 2015 had similar results, finding no significant association between modelled RF EMF and non-specific symptoms or sleep quality. This study also concluded that perceived exposure was associated with the examined outcomes. At levels below the Australian standard, there is no established scientific evidence to support adverse health effects from RF EMF.