Long-term effect of mobile phone use on sleep quality: Results from the cohort study of mobile phone use and health (COSMOS)
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure (RF-EMF) from mobile phone use on sleep quality has mainly been investigated in cross-sectional studies. The few previous prospective cohort studies found no or inconsistent associations, but had limited statistical power and short follow-up. In this large prospective cohort study, our aim was to estimate the effect of RF-EMF from mobile phone use on different sleep outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included Swedish (n = 21,049) and Finnish (n = 3120) participants enrolled in the Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) with information about operator-recorded mobile phone use at baseline and sleep outcomes both at baseline and at the 4-year follow-up. Sleep disturbance, sleep adequacy, daytime somnolence, sleep latency, and insomnia were assessed using the Medical Outcome Study (MOS) sleep questionnaire. RESULTS: Operator-recorded mobile phone use at baseline was not associated with most of the sleep outcomes. For insomnia, an odds ratio (OR) of 1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.51 was observed in the highest decile of mobile phone call-time (>258 min/week). With weights assigned to call-time to account for the lower RF-EMF exposure from Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS, 3G) than from Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM, 2G) the OR was 1.09 (95% CI 0.89-1.33) in the highest call-time decile. CONCLUSION: Insomnia was slightly more common among mobile phone users in the highest call-time category, but adjustment for the considerably lower RF-EMF exposure from the UMTS than the GSM network suggests that this association is likely due to other factors associated with mobile phone use than RF-EMF. No association was observed for other sleep outcomes. In conclusion, findings from this study do not support the hypothesis that RF-EMF from mobile phone use has long-term effects on sleep quality.
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BibTeX
@article{tettamanti2026longterm,
title = {{Long-term effect of mobile phone use on sleep quality: Results from the cohort study of mobile phone use and health (COSMOS)}},
author = {Giorgio Tettamanti and Anssi Auvinen and Torbjörn Åkerstedt and Katja Kojo and Anders Ahlbom and Sirpa Heinävaara and Paul Elliott and Joachim Schüz and Isabelle Deltour and Hans Kromhout and Mireille B. Toledano and Aslak Harbo Poulsen and Christoffer Johansen and Roel Vermeulen and Maria Feychting and Lena Hillert},
journal = {Environment International},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.envint.2020.105687},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05795610v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Long-term effect of mobile phone use on sleep quality: Results from the cohort study of mobile phone use and health (COSMOS)
AU - Giorgio Tettamanti
AU - Anssi Auvinen
AU - Torbjörn Åkerstedt
AU - Katja Kojo
AU - Anders Ahlbom
AU - Sirpa Heinävaara
AU - Paul Elliott
AU - Joachim Schüz
AU - Isabelle Deltour
AU - Hans Kromhout
AU - Mireille B. Toledano
AU - Aslak Harbo Poulsen
AU - Christoffer Johansen
AU - Roel Vermeulen
AU - Maria Feychting
AU - Lena Hillert
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Environment International
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105687
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05795610v1
AB - BACKGROUND: Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure (RF-EMF) from mobile phone use on sleep quality has mainly been investigated in cross-sectional studies. The few previous prospective cohort studies found no or inconsistent associations, but had limited statistical power and short follow-up. In this large prospective cohort study, our aim was to estimate the effect of RF-EMF from mobile phone use on different sleep outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included Swedish (n = 21,049) and Finnish (n = 3120) participants enrolled in the Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) with information about operator-recorded mobile phone use at baseline and sleep outcomes both at baseline and at the 4-year follow-up. Sleep disturbance, sleep adequacy, daytime somnolence, sleep latency, and insomnia were assessed using the Medical Outcome Study (MOS) sleep questionnaire. RESULTS: Operator-recorded mobile phone use at baseline was not associated with most of the sleep outcomes. For insomnia, an odds ratio (OR) of 1.24, 95% CI 1.03-1.51 was observed in the highest decile of mobile phone call-time (>258 min/week). With weights assigned to call-time to account for the lower RF-EMF exposure from Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS, 3G) than from Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM, 2G) the OR was 1.09 (95% CI 0.89-1.33) in the highest call-time decile. CONCLUSION: Insomnia was slightly more common among mobile phone users in the highest call-time category, but adjustment for the considerably lower RF-EMF exposure from the UMTS than the GSM network suggests that this association is likely due to other factors associated with mobile phone use than RF-EMF. No association was observed for other sleep outcomes. In conclusion, findings from this study do not support the hypothesis that RF-EMF from mobile phone use has long-term effects on sleep quality.
SN - 0160-4120
ER -