Table 4.
Results of sensitivity analyses on ORs for glioma and meningioma with radio frequency exposure in the highest quintile of total cumulative specific energy (TCSE)
| Factors included in sensitivity analyses | Glioma | Meningioma | ||||
| Cases | Controls | OR (95% CI) | Cases | Controls | OR (95% CI) | |
| All subjects with tumour localisation | ||||||
| TCSE at centre of tumour | ||||||
| Estimated by neuroradiologists when available, predicted by computer algorithm otherwise—main analysis | 103 | 207 | 1.35 (0.96 to 1.90) | 88 | 251 | 0.90 (0.66 to 1.24) |
| Predicted by computer algorithm for all subjects | 99 | 206 | 1.32 (0.93 to 1.86) | 93 | 253 | 0.93 (0.68 to 1.27) |
| Estimated by neuroradiologists when available, predicted by computer algorithm otherwise not taking account of tumour laterality | 105 | 241 | 1.23 (0.89 to 1.72) | 94 | 288 | 0.84 (0.62 to 1.15) |
| TCSE averaged over the entire tumour | ||||||
| Taking into account reported tumour laterality | 107 | 224 | 1.28 (0.92 to 1.80) | 93 | 253 | 0.92 (0.69 to 1.24) |
| Not taking into account tumour laterality | 111 | 254 | 1.21 (0.87 to 1.68) | 94 | 291 | 0.84 (0.61 to 1.15) |
| Effect of exclusion of | ||||||
| Subjects with very high reported use (>5 h/day) | 93 | 188 | 1.34 (0.94 to 1.91) | 81 | 235 | 0.91 (0.66 to 1.26) |
| Subjects with proxy response | 94 | 207 | 1.43 (0.99 to 2.05) | 87 | 249 | 0.93 (0.68 to 1.27) |
| Subjects reporting use of 450 MHz telephones | 101 | 202 | 1.35 (0.96 to 1.91) | 88 | 246 | 0.92 (0.67 to 1.26) |
| Never regular users (using the lowest quintile of TCSE as reference category) | 103 | 195 | 1.93 (1.26 to 2.96) | 88 | 237 | 1.04 (0.71 to 1.53) |
| By frequency band | ||||||
| 800–900 MHz | 100 | 197 | 1.36 (0.96 to 1.93) | 88 | 240 | 1.35 (0.74 to 2.44) |
| 1800–1900 MHz | 22 | 57 | 1.45* (0.80 to 2.63) | 6 | 59 | 0.28 (0.10 to 0.79) |
| By communication system | ||||||
| Analogue | 43 | 82 | 1.22 (0.77 to 1.92) | 27 | 109 | 1.29 (0.71 to 2.34) |
| Digital | 79 | 194 | 1.22 (0.84 to 1.76) | 87 | 214 | 0.87 (0.45 to 1.67) |
| Only subjects with centre estimated by neuroradiologists | ||||||
| Using centre estimated by neuroradiologist | 57 | 86 | 1.66 (1.03 to 2.67) | 35 | 114 | 1.01 (0.63 to 1.62) |
| Using centre predicted by computer algorithm for all subjects | 53 | 85 | 1.58 (0.98 to 2.57) | 39 | 118 | 1.02 (0.64 to 1.61) |
| Only subjects for whom images were available (ie, excluding Israel) | 70 | 109 | 1.82 (1.20 to 2.76) | 33 | 113 | 1.23 (0.76 to 2.00) |
| Country-specific estimates | ||||||
| Australia | 30 | 49 | 1.15 (0.56 to 2.38) | 19 | 67 | 0.75 (0.38 to 1.48) |
| Canada | 21 | 27 | 3.48 (1.63 to 7.43) | 7 | 33 | 1.51 (0.58 to 3.93) |
| France | 11 | 29 | 1.39 (0.56 to 3.49) | 7 | 29 | 0.77 (0.30 to 1.98) |
| Israel | 33 | 98 | 0.74 (0.40 to 1.37) | 50 | 116 | 0.74 (0.47 to 1.17) |
| New Zealand | 8 | 4 | 3.69 (0.78 to 17.5) | 5 | 6 | 5.52 (0.98 to 31.2) |
| Sex-specific estimates | ||||||
| Men | 85 | 133 | 1.33 (0.87 to 2.03) | 41 | 151 | 0.98 (0.58 to 1.65) |
| Women | 18 | 74 | 1.30 (0.69 to 2.47) | 47 | 100 | 0.88 (0.58 to 1.34) |
*
OR in fourth quintile: 1.86, 95% CI 1.07 to 3.22 (29 cases and 54 controls).