BMC Public Health · Aug 11, 2026

Long-term mobile use and incident hypertension: findings from the Shahrekord PERSIAN cohort study

By Khosravi V, Ahmadi A, Chaboki A et al.

BACKGROUND: The widespread and increasing mobile use has raised concerns about hypertension risk; therefore, this study investigates the association between long-term use (> 10 years) and hypertension in adults aged 35-70 years. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included 7,490 adults aged 35-70 years from the Shahrekord PERSIAN Cohort Study who were free of hypertension at baseline. Mobile use duration was categorized as < 5, 5-10, and ≥ 10 years. Incident hypertension was identified during follow-up, and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression after adjustment for potential confounders. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 47.55 ± 8.33 years. During 61,895.9 person-years of follow-up, 236 participants developed incident hypertension, yielding an incidence rate of 3.81 per 1,000 person-years. In the multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, compared with participants with < 5 years of mobile use, those with 5-10 years (aHR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.05, 2.43) and ≥ 10 years (aHR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.96) had significantly higher hazards of incident hypertension. Older age, obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²), depression, hypertriglyceridemia, and alcohol non-use were also independently associated with incident hypertension. CONCLUSION: Long-term mobile use was independently associated with an increased risk of incident hypertension in this prospective cohort. These findings highlight the need to incorporate digital technology-related behaviors into cardiovascular prevention strategies.

doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28935-4Open accessPubMed 42989220Populations