Mobile phones: Its effect on hearing

Background: Widespread concerns have been raised about the possibility that exposure to the radio frequency fields from mobile telephones or their base stations could affect people's health. Materials and Methods: Effect on hearing in 120 mobile phone users and nonusers between age group of 18-30 years were studied over 3 years. Group 1 using mobile phone more than 1 hour per day for more than a year and group 2 no usage or less than 1 hour per day for less than a year. Results: Those using phones for 2-3 hours daily, loss of 5 dB in 10%, 10 dB in 3.3%, and 15 dB in 1.6% were noted. Also loss of 5 dB in 6.6% and 10 dB in 3.3% were noted in those using 3-4 hours daily. Sensorinueral hearing loss was seen in 26.6% of the subjects in study group and 3.3% in control group. Conclusion: Our study did not show any significant hearing loss in mobile phone users.