The INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population.
The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours. The study was conducted in 13 countries. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK using a common core protocol. This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population. INTERPHONE is the largest case-control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2,765 glioma, 2,425 meningioma, 1,121 acoustic neurinoma, 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7,658 controls. Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results.
Cardis
Elisabeth
E
International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372, Lyon, Cedex 08, France. cardis@iarc.fr
Richardson
Lesley
L
Deltour
Isabelle
I
Armstrong
Bruce
B
Feychting
Maria
M
Johansen
Christoffer
C
Kilkenny
Monique
M
McKinney
Patricia
P
Modan
Baruch
B
Sadetzki
Siegal
S
Schüz
Joachim
J
Swerdlow
Anthony
A
Vrijheid
Martine
M
Auvinen
Anssi
A
Berg
Gabriele
G
Blettner
Maria
M
Bowman
Joseph
J
Brown
Julianne
J
Chetrit
Angela
A
Christensen
Helle Collatz
HC
Cook
Angus
A
Hepworth
Sarah
S
Giles
Graham
G
Hours
Martine
M
Iavarone
Ivano
I
Jarus-Hakak
Avital
A
Klaeboe
Lars
L
Krewski
Daniel
D
Lagorio
Susanna
S
Lönn
Stefan
S
Mann
Simon
S
McBride
Mary
M
Muir
Kenneth
K
Nadon
Louise
L
Parent
Marie-Elise
ME
Pearce
Neil
N
Salminen
Tiina
T
Schoemaker
Minouk
M
Schlehofer
Brigitte
B
Siemiatycki
Jack
J
Taki
Masao
M
Takebayashi
Toru
T
Tynes
Tore
T
van Tongeren
Martie
M
Vecchia
Paolo
P
Wiart
Joe
J
Woodward
Alistair
A
Yamaguchi
Naohito
N
D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019049:Developed Countries; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018570:Risk Assessment