The Effects of Heart-to-Mobile Phone Distance on the Circulatory System

Abstract

Objective: The effect of the change in the distance between the mobile phone(MP) and the heart on heart rate variability (HRV) was examined, and the influence of the MP's distance to heart on the circulatory system was investigated. Methods: Healthy volunteers using MPs were included in this study. The distance from the heart to the right ear is about four centimetres greater than its distance to the left ear. Taking advantage of this distance difference, the volunteers were divided into two groups: right-hand dominant and left-hand dominant individuals. A total of 31 right-hand dominant (Group 1) and 32 left-hand dominant (Group 2) volunteers were enrolled. HRV was automatically calculated by a commercially available FDA-approved three-channel Holter monitoring device (Holter ECG Recorder DMS300-4A). Results: The mean tragus to apex distance of the first group was 37.5 cm and the mean of the second group was 33.6 cm. There was no statistically significant difference between standard deviation of N–Ns (SDNN), the standard deviation of the 5-min mean values of N–Ns (SDANN), root mean square successive difference of N–Ns (RMSSD), low-frequency (LF), and high frequency (HF) values and LF/HF ratio between the two groups. The percentage of successive N–N differences that were greater than 50 ms for each 5-min interval (pNN50%) was significantly lower in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (p = 0.014). Conclusions: Our findings show that even a small increase in MPs to heart distance can reduce its negative effects on the cardiovascular system.