Study Progress Update

18 Aug 2015

SCAMP completed baseline data collection in July 2015, at the end of the school year. We now have cognitive assessment data available for approximately 5,500 Year 7 pupils and we would like to take this opportunity to thank parents, pupils and schools for their participation in SCAMP to date.

We are currently in the process of preparing for the next phase of the study which will involve personal radiofrequency (RF) exposure assessments in a subset of the SCAMP cohort (for more information about R please see our Science Page). From questionnaire data, smartphone apps, and mobile phone traffic data we are able to assess RF exposure from mobile phones, however, we are also exposed to RF from other sources in our environment e.g. laptops, iPads, and other wireless communication. It can be difficult to accurately assess our environmental RF exposure without having direct measurements. By asking participants to carry personal RF exposure devices, we can assess their environmental RF exposure and take this into account in the study analysis. We will soon be getting in touch to invite participants to take part in this exciting aspect of SCAMP.

For SCAMP pupils from whom we have parental consent to access their routine records (e.g. educational records, mobile phone traffic data and health records), we will soon be contacting mobile phone operators to find out how much SCAMP pupils use their mobile phones. In addition, our application to obtain health events data is in process.

We would like to emphasise to parents that if you did not consent for your child’s routine records to be made available for research purposes in SCAMP, or if you choose to withdraw your initial voluntary consent at any time, your healthcare, your healthcare rights and your relationship with your mobile network operator will not be affected.