Quality of life and physical activity levels of musculoskeletal disorders in workers exposed to high and low frequency magnetic fields: A comparative study.
Musa Çankaya, Havva Turaç Cingöz
Welders exposed to high-frequency magnetic fields reported more musculoskeletal pain and lower quality of life than hospital staff or unexposed workers.
The groups differ in occupation, gender, and education, and the design cannot establish whether the fields caused the difference.
Key findings
1CMDQ discomfort scores were significantly different between the three groups in the neck (F = 4.481, p = 0.017), upper back (F = 11.635, p < .001), and low back (F = 11.174, p < .001), with the high-frequency welder group scoring highest in all three regions (neck 18.55, upper back 39.87, low back 34.37) compared with the low-frequency group (8.89, 7.69, 9.71) and the control group (6.18, 4.88, 2.77).
2Quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref) and physical activity (IPAQ-Sf) scores differed significantly between the three groups (F = 23.809 and F = 75.407, both p < .001). The welder group had the lowest quality of life (63.51 ± 8.36) and the highest physical activity score (9287.07 ± 2153.22), while the hospital staff group had the lowest physical activity (3227.18 ± 2239.24).
3No significant relationship was found between musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and physical activity level in any of the three groups (p > 0.05).
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What it does not show
Magnetic field exposure was not measured with a device; it was inferred from the worker's job title. The three groups differ substantially in occupation, gender (welder group was 100% male), and education (hospital staff were 100% university graduates), making it impossible to isolate the effect of the fields from the effect of the job and its physical demands. All outcomes were self-reported questionnaires; no objective physical examination, imaging, or functional testing was performed. 40 participants per group is a small sample for detecting differences across nine body regions and multiple outcome measures simultaneously.
Declared interests
The authors received no financial support and declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these results as evidence that magnetic fields cause musculoskeletal pain or reduced quality of life. The welder group also did the heaviest physical work (100% lifted more than 20 kg), was 100% male, and had the most varied education levels. The fields were never measured directly; exposure was assumed from the job title. A cross-sectional comparison of three different occupations cannot separate the effect of the fields from the effect of the work.
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