title: German wide cross sectional survey on health impacts of electromagnetic fields in the view of general practitioners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The proportion of general practitioners (GPs) in Germany who assume health impacts of electromagnetic fields (EMF) is assessed. Moreover, factors associated with this risk perception are examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 7% random sample was drawn from online lists of all the GPs working in Germany. 1,867 doctors received a long version of a self-administered postal questionnaire about EMF and health (response rate 23.3%), 928 doctors received a short version (response rate 49.1%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  37.3% of responders to the short and 57.5% of responders to the long questionnaire agreed "that there are persons whose health complaints are caused by EMF when legal limit values are met". A late responder analysis for the survey with the short questionnaire led to a still lower estimate of 29% for GPs believing in health-relevant effects of EMF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  About a third of German GPs associate EMF with health complaints and thus deviate considerably from current scientific knowledge. To avoid a strong selection bias in the surveys of the perception of EMF risks, use of short questionnaires and late responder analysis are recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kowall
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breckenkamp
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Heyer
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berg-Beckhoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015983:Selection Bias; D020711:Threshold Limit Values