Abstract
Objectives: To assess the health of children attending elementary and junior high schools with high tension power lines hovering over the campuses. Methods: Between April and November, 2004, we carried out a cross-sectional study that administerd a self-assessed health questionnaire survey to the parents of 1,117 children from 14 elementary and junior high schools with high tension power lines hovering over the campuses (exposed group). The control group was consisted of 2,204 children from 18 control schools. Multivariate multinominal logistic regression model was used to calculate the age and socioeconomic indicators adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) of clinical visits and health conditions within a one-month period prior to questionnaire survey in relation to the putatively hazardous exposure to magnetic fields. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, children of the exposed group experienced significantly reduced OR of clinic visit at a value of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.72-0.98). The ORs for both ambulatory and dental care were also significantly reduced at estimates of 0.68 (95% CI: 0.56-0.81) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.59-0.98), respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups in Chinese medicine care, drugstore visits, and taking herbal medicine. There were also no significant differences in the self-reported adverse health outcomes by parents. Conclusions: This study discloses that children attending elementary and junior high schools with high-tension power lines hovering over the campuses tended to experience a lower frequency of certain health indicators. Whether such results were due to unadjusted confounders or electromagnetic fields induced hermetic effects warrant further investigation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 83-92 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Taiwan Journal of Public Health |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2006 Apr |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health