Harm or benefit of mobile phones from the position of a patient with arterial hypertension

Abstract

In recent years, mobile phones have become everyday devices around the world. This raises important questions about the safety of using a mobile phone to make or receive calls, especially for heavy users. The purpose of this study was to analyze the characteristics of the behavior of patients with arterial hypertension when making or receiving calls on a mobile phone and the factors associated with it. In order to assess the behavior of using a mobile phone while making or receiving calls, a survey was conducted. A retrospective study was conducted by analyzing the medical records of 192 patients with arterial hypertension (AH). Among patients with AH and the term of using a mobile phone for 5–8 years, elderly patients predominate, while those with a term of use of more than 8 years are of mature age, where the level of systolic blood pressure is probably higher compared to the data of patients who have been using the phone for 5–8 years. The vast majority of mature and elderly patients (about 50%) use the phone 1–3 hours a week, while most patients with hypertension almost never use mobile phone speakerphones. In patients with arterial hypertension, a significantly higher frequency of using the phone 4–6 hours per week was established in the group of patients with a period of using the phone for more than 8 years compared to the period of 5–8 years. At the same time, among patients with AH of old age, 44.8% of people use the phone for 1–3 hours and 37.9% for 4–6 hours during the week with a period of phone use of 5–8 years, while among patients with a period of phone use more than 8 years, the majority of patients use the phone 1-3 hours a week during the last 3 months (51.4% of people). The obtained results indicate that using a mobile phone to make or receive calls is associated with higher systolic blood pressure. Keywords: blood pressure, age, body mass index, patient behavior.