Reporting of subjective symptoms after a specific training intervention on radiofrequency electromagnetic fields exposure in a sample of Italian students using smartphone devices

Several studies investigate effects of problematic smartphone use on non-specific symptoms. These symptoms are not associated to RF-EMF exposure, but can be related to the fatigue caused by the very intense use of the devices. In this study we surveyed a group of university students, grouped according to the reported hours of smartphone use and with respect to a specific training intervention on the recognized biophysical effects of RF-EMF. We tested the reported percentages of ten different symptoms, and their frequency of occurrence in the previous year. Six symptoms were related to different types of sleep problems, then also concentration problems, headache, palpitation and daily tiredness have been investigated. As these symptoms are subjective and related to the different individual perceptions, it was hypothesized that their reporting could be changed when receiving specific information on the effects of RF-EMF exposure from smartphones' use. The results showed that eight out of ten symptoms resulted more frequent in the subgroup of very intense smartphone users in the no-intervention arm compared to very intense users in the post-intervention group, suggesting a possible modification of the subjective reporting after the specific training received by the students.