Skip Navigation



Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on October 27, 2006
Journal of Public Health, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdl067
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/4/299    most recent
fdl067v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ettelt, S.
Right arrow Articles by Teperi, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ettelt, S.
Right arrow Articles by Teperi, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved

Article

Evidence-based policy? The use of mobile phones in hospital

Stefanie Ettelt 1, Ellen Nolte 1, Martin McKee 1 *, Odd Arild Haugen 2, Ingvar Karlberg 3, Niek Klazinga 4, Walter Ricciardi 5, and Juha Teperi 6

1 European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
2 Directorate of Health and Social Affairs, Oslo, Norway
3 Department of Social Medicine, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden
4 Department of Social Medicine, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
5 Institute of Hygiene, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy
6 Health Services Research Division, STAKES National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Martin McKee, E-mail: martin.mckee{at}lshtm.ac.uk


  Abstract

Background Evidence-based policies have become increasingly accepted in clinical practice. However, policies on many of the non-clinical activities that take place in health care facilities may be less frequently evidence based.

Methods We carried out a review of literature on safety of mobile phones in hospitals and survey of practice in selected European countries.

Results When first evidence on the dangers of electronic interference associated with mobile phones appeared in the 1990s, hospitals in many countries introduced complete bans on mobile phones. Yet a review of recent evidence suggests that there is no significant risk from using mobile phones in hospitals as long as they are more than a metre away from sensitive equipment, whereas the risk to the most modern equipment is even less. With the technological evolution of mobile phones, the residual risk of interference appears to be minimal and controllable. Although some countries are reluctant to relax regulation, others now limit bans to areas in which sensitive equipment is used and some discourage the use of mobile phones on the grounds of noise exposure.

Conclusion With new technology on the doorstep, the potential benefits and risks associated with mobile phones should be examined explicitly in the light of the evidence.

Keywords: cellular phone, electromagnetic interference, evidence-based medicine, mobile telephone, safety management.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.