Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently assessing the potential health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) in the general and working population. Related to one such health effect, there is a concern that RF-EMFs may affect cognitive performance in humans. The systematic review (SR) aims to identify, summarize and synthesize the evidence base related to this question. Here, we present the protocol for the planned SR.

Objectives

The main objective is to present a protocol for a SR which will evaluate the associations between short-term exposure to RF-EMFs and cognitive performance in human experimental studies.

Data sources

We will search the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and the EMF-Portal. The reference lists of included studies and retrieved review articles will be manually searched.

Study eligibility and criteria

We will include randomized human experimental studies that assess the effects of RF-EMFs on cognitive performance compared to no exposure or lower exposure. We will include peer-reviewed articles of any publication date in any language that report primary data.

Data extraction and analysis

Data will be extracted according to a pre-defined set of forms developed and piloted by the review author team. To assess the risk of bias, we will apply the Rating Tool for Human and Animal Studies developed by NTP/OHAT, supplemented with additional questions relevant for cross-over studies. Where sufficiently similar studies are identified (e.g. the heterogeneity concerning population, exposure and outcome is low and the studies can be combined), we will conduct random-effects meta-analysis; otherwise, we will conduct a narrative synthesis.

Assessment of certainty of evidence

The certainty of evidence for each identified outcome will be assessed according to Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE).

Performing the review according to this protocol will allow the identification of possible effects of RF-EMFs on cognitive performance in humans.

The protocol has been registered in PROSPERO, an open-source protocol registration system, to foster transparency.

中文翻译：

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人体实验研究中暴露于射频电磁场对认知能力的影响：系统评价方案

背景

世界卫生组织 (WHO) 目前正在评估暴露于射频电磁场 (RF-EMF) 对普通人群和工作人群的潜在健康影响。与这样一种健康影响相关的是，人们担心 RF-EMF 可能会影响人类的认知能力。系统评价（SR）旨在识别、总结和综合与该问题相关的证据基础。在这里，我们介绍了计划 SR 的协议。

目标

主要目标是提出一个 SR 协议，该协议将评估短期暴露于 RF-EMF 与人类实验研究中的认知表现之间的关联。

数据源

我们将搜索以下数据库：PubMed、Embase、Web of Science、Scopus 和 EMF-Portal。将手动搜索纳入研究的参考文献列表和检索到的评论文章。

研究资格和标准

我们将纳入随机人体实验研究，评估 RF-EMF 与不暴露或低暴露相比对认知表现的影响。我们将包括报告原始数据的任何语言的任何出版日期的同行评审文章。

数据提取和分析

将根据审查作者团队开发和试用的一组预定义表格提取数据。为了评估偏倚风险，我们将应用 NTP/OHAT 开发的人类和动物研究评级工具，并补充与交叉研究相关的其他问题。如果确定了足够相似的研究（例如，关于人群、暴露和结果的异质性较低并且可以合并研究），我们将进行随机效应荟萃分析；否则，我们将进行叙述性综合。

评估证据的确定性

每个已确定结果的证据的确定性将根据建议评估、制定和评估的分级 (GRADE) 进行评估。

根据该协议进行审查将允许识别 RF-EMF 对人类认知表现的可能影响。

该协议已在开源协议注册系统 PROSPERO 中注册，以提高透明度。