Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 42 4 2013 04 15 428 435 Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi Medical Physics & Medical Engineering Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran ; The Center for Research on Radiological Sciences, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Shahram Taeb Naser Dehghan 2015 10 15 Radar transmitters emit high-power radiofrequency radiation by creation of a high-voltage and high-frequency alternating electrical current.Health effects of occupational exposure to military radar were investigated. Visual reaction time was recorded with a simple blind computer-assisted-visual reaction time test. To assess the short-term memory, modified Wechsler Memory Scale test was performed.The mean +/- SD reaction time in radar works (N=100) and the control group (N=57) were 238.58 +/- 23.47 milliseconds and 291.86 +/- 28.26 milliseconds (P<0.0001), respectively. The scores of forward digit span in radar works and the control group were 3.56 +/- 0.77 and 4.29 +/- 1.06 (P<0.0001), while the scores of backward digit span in radar works and the control group were 2.70 +/- 0.69 and 3.62 +/- 0.95 (P<0.0001). The scores of word recognition in radar works and the control group were 3.37 +/- 1.13 and 5.86 +/- 1.11 (P<0.0001). Finally, the scores of paired words in radar works and the control group were 13.56 +/- 1.78 and 15.21 +/- 2.20 (P<0.0001). It can be concluded that occupational exposures to radar radiations decreases reaction time, which may lead to a better response to different hazards.To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show that occupational exposure to radar microwave radiation leads to decreased reaction time and the lower performance of short-term memory. Altogether, these results indicate that occupational exposure to radar microwave radiations may be linked to some non-detrimental and detrimental health effects. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/4566 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/4566/4213