Do ambient electromagnetic fields affect behaviour? A demonstration of the relationship between geomagnetic storm activity and suicide
Do ambient electromagnetic fields affect behaviour? A demonstration of the relationship between geomagnetic storm activity and suicide
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DOI：
10.1002/bem.20190
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发表时间：
2006-02-01
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Henry, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Berk, M;Dodd, S;Henry, M
环境电磁场与人类情绪和行为之间的关系具有重大的公共卫生意义。研究了1968 ~ 2002年澳大利亚地磁风暴活动Ap指数与全国自杀统计的关系。Ap指数数据被标准化，以便在全球范围内保持一致，并给出了每天风暴活动的衡量标准。地磁风暴事件被定义为Ap指数等于或超过100 nT的一天。自杀数据是对每日男性和女性死亡人数的全国统计，其中自杀被记录为死亡原因。共纳入51845名男性和16 327名女性。男性和女性的平均自杀人数在春季最高，男性和女性的平均自杀人数在秋季和夏季最低。女性自杀率在秋季地磁暴活动期间显著增加（P= 0.01）。在男性中没有观察到这种模式（P=.16）。这表明环境电磁场活动的扰动以临床有意义的方式影响行为。该研究进一步提出了关于其他杂散电磁场来源及其对心理健康影响的问题。
The relationship between ambient electromagnetic fields and human mood and behaviour is of great public health interest. The relationship between Ap indices of geomagnetic storm activity and national suicide statistics for Australia from 1968 to 2002 was studied. Ap index data was normalised so as to be globally uniform and gave a measure of storm activity for each day. A geomagnetic storm event was defined as a day in which the Ap index was equal to or exceeded 100 nT. Suicide data was a national tally of daily male and female death figures where suicide had been documented as the cause of death. A total of 51845 males and 16 327 females were included. The average number of suicides was greatest in spring for males and females, and lowest in autumn for males and summer for females. Suicide amongst females increased significantly in autumn during concurrent periods of geomagnetic storm activity (P=.01). This pattern was not observed in males (P=.16). This suggests that perturbations in ambient electromagnetic field activity impact behaviour in a clinically meaningful manner. The study furthermore raises issues regarding other sources of stray electromagnetic fields and their effect on mental health.