Ledent Maryse, Bordarie Jimmy, Vatovez Benjamin, Dieudonné Maël, Prignot Nicolas, Vanderstraeten Jacques, Bouland Catherine, De Clercq Eva M
Sciensano, Chemical and Physical Health Risks, Brussels, Belgium.
Université Libre De Bruxelles, Ecole De Santé Publique, Brussels, Belgium.
Bioelectromagnetics. 2025 Apr;46(3):e70006. doi: 10.1002/bem.70006.
Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance Attributed to Electromagnetic Fields (IEI-EMF) is a syndrome that defines people who report symptoms that they attribute to their exposure to EMF sources, without any identified underlying medical condition to explain these symptoms. To date, provocation protocols have failed to demonstrate a consistent relationship between EMF exposure and reported symptoms, raising questions among some researchers and individuals with IEI-EMF about the relevance of these protocols for studying the syndrome. To address these criticisms, a provocation protocol was co-designed in collaboration with individuals with IEI-EMF. This study presents the results of the tests, with a focus on exposure perception and symptom reporting among IEI-EMF volunteers. A total of 47 IEI-EMF volunteers were enrolled and participated in an open-field habituation session. Of these, 27 completed the first double-blind controlled exposure session, while 26 and 16 volunteers, respectively, participated in three sessions for collective analyses and 12 sessions for individual-level analyses. At the individual level, no consistent association was found between exposure perception certainty level and exposure status, except for one volunteer whose perception was mostly consistent with exposure status. Similarly, symptom reporting did not align with exposure status, except for the same volunteer, whose symptom reporting showed a borderline significant result with exposure status. However, for half of the volunteers, symptom reporting was significantly correlated with exposure perception certainty level, supporting a nocebo hypothesis. At the collective level, no consistency was observed between exposure perception certainty level, symptom reporting, and exposure status. This study discusses the conditions necessary for future provocation protocols to enhance their relevance, acceptability, and potential utility in a possible care-oriented approach. It also considers criticisms of using exposure perception and symptom reporting as outcomes in provocation protocols, despite their central role in how individuals identify themselves as individuals with IEI-EMF.
特发性电磁场环境不耐受症（IEI - EMF）是一种综合征，指的是那些报告称自己出现了归因于暴露于电磁场源的症状，但却没有任何已确定的潜在医学状况来解释这些症状的人。迄今为止，激发试验方案未能证明电磁场暴露与所报告症状之间存在一致的关系，这在一些研究人员以及患有IEI - EMF的个体中引发了关于这些试验方案对该综合征研究的相关性的质疑。为回应这些批评意见，与患有IEI - EMF的个体合作共同设计了一项激发试验方案。本研究展示了测试结果，重点关注IEI - EMF志愿者的暴露感知和症状报告情况。总共招募了47名IEI - EMF志愿者并让他们参加了一次旷野适应训练。其中，27人完成了第一次双盲对照暴露训练，而分别有26名和16名志愿者参加了用于集体分析的三次训练以及用于个体层面分析的十二次训练。在个体层面，除了一名志愿者的感知与暴露状态基本一致外，未发现暴露感知确定程度与暴露状态之间存在一致的关联。同样，除了同一名志愿者（其症状报告与暴露状态显示出临界显著结果）外，症状报告与暴露状态也不一致。然而，对于一半的志愿者来说，症状报告与暴露感知确定程度显著相关，这支持了反安慰剂假说。在集体层面，未观察到暴露感知确定程度、症状报告和暴露状态之间存在一致性。本研究讨论了未来激发试验方案为提高其在可能的以护理为导向的方法中的相关性、可接受性和潜在效用所必需的条件。它还考虑了对在激发试验方案中使用暴露感知和症状报告作为结果的批评，尽管它们在个体将自己识别为患有IEI - EMF的个体的方式中起着核心作用。
