Copyright © 2004 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS |
Effect of a Nighttime Magnetic Field Exposure on Sleep Patterns in Young Women
1 Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womens Hospital, Boston, MA.
2 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
3 Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.
4 Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
5 School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
6 Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Since poor sleep quality is associated with multiple health problems, it is important to understand factors that may affect sleep patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a continuous, 60-Hz, nighttime magnetic field exposure on sleep outcomes in young women sleeping at home. The study was a randomized crossover trial, comparing intervention (0.51.0 µT above ambient levels) with ambient magnetic field levels, during two 5-night measurement periods. Subjects lived in the Seattle, Washington, area and were 2040 years of age, had regular menstrual cycles, were not taking oral contraceptives, and had not breastfed or been pregnant during the previous year. The study was conducted between March and September of 2001. Sleep outcomes were measured via actigraphy. The range of magnetic field exposure was 0.0010.50 µT during the ambient period and 0.411.21 µT during the intervention period. Sleep outcomes were not significantly different between the intervention and the ambient measurement periods. The intervention magnetic field had no effect on sleep patterns, suggesting that this exposure may not be an important factor in predicting sleep of young women who sleep at home.
cross-over studies; electromagnetic fields; premenopause; sleep
Abbreviations: Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.