TDNet Discover

As the digital age marches on into new frontiers of online life, communication, and commerce, cell phone usage has evolved into a necessary and constant part of modern life. As a constantly updating tool, few updates have been made to the research into its possible detriments to human health. This research sought to investigate the possible association between long-term cell phone use and the development of tumors in the human population. To explore a systematic review of several databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Medline was performed. Studies were selected using specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ultimately, three meta-analyses were selected, and data extractions were performed on each study. All three studies measured results in terms of the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using the random effects model. There was a consensus that short-term or rare usage of cell phones did not cause an increase in tumor incidence, however, the conclusion on long-term effects was incomplete. This research showed that there may be an association between long-term cell phone usage and tumor incidence, however, more research is necessary. The primary drawback of these studies is defining long-term use and the validity of a cause-and-effect relationship between the length of time of cell phone use and the appearance of neoplasm. Several years have transpired since the studies in each meta-analysis were completed. In that time, mobile phone usage dramatically increased with cell phones becoming powerful instruments and the population of users has expanded to include the extremes of age. With these societal and technological changes, a large sample that has specific time frames to capture “long-term” data for each increment is needed for more definitive answers about current risks.