title: Congenital malformations and exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic radiation among Danish physiotherapists.
abstract: A cluster initiated the present case-referent study to assess the relation between exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic radiation and congenital malformations. Through the linkage of a cohort formed from a union file of Danish physiotherapists with complete national registers of pregnancy outcome, cases (pregnancies terminated by the birth of a malformed child) and referents were identified. From responses in a blinded telephone interview without knowledge of case status, exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic radiation in the first month of pregnancy was assessed. Indices reflecting duration of exposure ("time") and maximum level of exposure ("peak") were composed. After a 7% dropout 54 cases and 247 referents were interviewed. No statistically significant associations between pregnancy outcome and high-frequency electromagnetic radiation were found (odds ratio 1.7, 95% confidence interval 0.6-4.3).
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Medicine, Central Hospital, Esbjerg, Denmark.
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Larsen
mesh_terms: D000016:Abnormalities, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D013029:Space-Time Clustering