Knowledge, risk perception and information needs of general practitioners regarding potential health effects of electromagnetic fields: A scoping review of the scientific literature

Abstract

We aimed to summarise the evidence regarding the knowledge, risk perception and information needs of general practitioners (GPs) regarding electromagnetic fields (EMF). To achieve this aim, we searched for relevant articles in PubMed and additional sources, screened them based on the inclusion criteria and extracted relevant information from the eligible articles. Included manuscripts were summarised via narrative synthesis. Out of 274 records, nine articles from five different studies (all from Europe) were included. All studies reported considerable concern about the possible negative health-effects caused by EMF among GPs. In most of the studies GPs, indicated insufficiently covered information needs concerning EMF. Four studies reported that GPs were consulted by patients regarding potential health effects of EMF. The level of concern regarding health effects of EMF among GPs is high, while their information needs are insufficiently satisfied. It remains unclear what factors determine this concern. Likewise, there is little data on GPs’ actual level of knowledge on EMF and health. Future studies may take new perspectives such as concepts from communication science and use additional methods like qualitative techniques. Moreover, the communication of scientific evidence about EMF towards GPs needs to be improved in order to enable them to provide evidence-based counselling.