Table 3.
Factor Loadings for Controls, EHS Group a and Self‐Selected EHS Subjects in a Forced Eight‐Factor Principal Component Analysis
| Group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symptom | Controls (n = 1306) | EHS group a (n = 246) | Self‐selected EHS subjects (n = 127) | |
| Nervous | ||||
| q12 | Depression | 0.811 | 0.792 | 0.736 |
| q13 | Difficulty in concentrating | 0.806 | 0.656 | 0.790 |
| q14 | Difficulty in focusing attention | 0.767 | 0.639 | 0.755 |
| q24 | Fatigue | 0.752 | 0.786 | 0.584 |
| q55 | Stress | 0.721 | 0.776 | 0.651 |
| q25 | Foggy thinking | 0.702 | 0.560 | 0.770 |
| q21 | Exhaustion | 0.669 | 0.677 | 0.521 |
| q2 | Anxiety | 0.633 | 0.678 | 0.699 |
| q34 | Memory difficulties | 0.472 | 0.489 | −0.607 |
| q54 | Sleep disturbances | 0.439 | 0.486 | 0.657 |
| Skin‐related | ||||
| q49 | Skin irritation | 0.757 | 0.742 | 0.678 |
| q52 | Skin redness | 0.741 | 0.695 | 0.631 |
| q53 | Skin swelling | 0.720 | 0.722 | 0.705 |
| q56 | Tingling sensations | 0.689 | 0.698 | 0.772 |
| q41 | Pain/soreness of the skin | 0.611 | 0.603 | 0.700 |
| q48 | Skin burning sensations | 0.548 | 0.744 | −0.533 |
| q51 | Skin rash | 0.427 | 0.462 | 0.457 |
| q6 | Blisters on the skin | 0.397 | 0.516 | 0.350 |
| Head‐related | ||||
| q26 | Headache | −0.881 | −0.831 | 0.827 |
| q20 | Dull headache | −0.871 | −0.779 | 0.794 |
| q35 | Migraines | −0.851 | −0.807 | 0.751 |
| q28 | Heaviness in the head | −0.803 | −0.672 | 0.803 |
| q46 | Sharp pain in the head | −0.790 | −0.728 | 0.689 |
| q22 | Eye problems | −0.442 | 0.509 | 0.554 |
| q15 | Digestive problems | −0.406 | −0.551 | 0.603 |
| Auditory vestibular | ||||
| q43 | Pressure in the ear | 0.716 | 0.795 | −0.724 |
| q39 | Pain in the ear | 0.713 | 0.738 | −0.707 |
| q44 | Ringing in the ear | 0.648 | 0.583 | −0.497 |
| q38 | Nausea | 0.561 | 0.591 | 0.574 |
| q23 | Facial prickling | 0.559 | 0.570 | 0.672 |
| q57 | Warmth in the ear | 0.533 | 0.625 | 0.455 |
| q33 | Loss of appetite | 0.437 | −0.432 | 0.720 |
| q42 | Pain/warmth in the head | 0.436 | 0.507 | 0.531 |
| Musculo/Skeletal | ||||
| q36 | Muscle tension | −0.661 | 0.598 | 0.748 |
| q37 | Muscle weakness | −0.591 | 0.671 | 0.661 |
| q40 | Pain in the joints | −0.587 | 0.625 | 0.688 |
| q50 | Numbness | −0.568 | 0.529 | −0.650 |
| q47 | Sick feeling | −0.558 | 0.497 | 0.572 |
| q4 | Back pain | −0.550 | 0.458 | 0.666 |
| q7 | Blurry vision | −0.460 | 0.577 | −0.624 |
| q29 | High blood pressure | −0.387 | 0.329 | 0.751 |
| Allergy‐related | ||||
| q1 | Allergies | 0.707 | 0.694 | 0.498 |
| q45 | Runny or stuffy nose | 0.612 | 0.544 | 0.543 |
| q19 | Dry skin | 0.546 | 0.689 | 0.568 |
| q3 | Asthma | 0.525 | 0.531 | 0.714 |
| q18 | Dry cough | 0.497 | 0.485 | 0.655 |
| q5 | Bad taste in the mouth | 0.418 | 0.502 | 0.568 |
| Sensory | ||||
| q31 | Impaired sense of smell | 0.789 | 0.760 | 0.675 |
| q32 | Impaired sense of taste | 0.770 | 0.734 | 0.461 |
| q30 | Hoarse dry throat | 0.462 | 0.516 | 0.581 |
| q16 | Disorientation | 0.450 | 0.493 | −0.753 |
| Heart/Chest‐related | ||||
| q9 | Cardiac/heart pains | 0.824 | 0.812 | 0.684 |
| q10 | Chest pains | 0.782 | 0.816 | 0.654 |
| q8 | Breathing difficulties | 0.644 | 0.516 | 0.700 |
| q27 | Heart palpitations | 0.620 | 0.568 | 0.542 |
| q17 | Dizziness | 0.490 | 0.553 | 0.589 |
| q11 | Cold sweat | 0.473 | 0.445 | 0.510 |
a
EHS group Controls who had a score higher than 1 point for q67 (“Are you sensitive to electromagnetic fields, e.g., radio frequencies and magnetic fields produced by electrical objects such as televisions, computers, and mobile phones?”).