Evaluation of reports of periconceptual occupational exposure: Maternal-assessed versus industrial hygienist-assessed exposure

✍ Scribed by Eric P. Bauer; Paul A. Romitti; Stephen J. Reynolds

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 117 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0271-3586
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199911)36:5<573::aid-ajim9>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

Background While the number of women entering the work force has grown, so has the importance of investigating occupational reproductive hazards. The objective of this study was to examine the concordance between maternal-assessed and industrial hygienist-assessed exposure to four classes of occupational agents Ð video display terminals, paints, solvents, and agricultural chemicals. Methods Case (n 87) and control (n 102) mothers who participated in a populationbased study of orofacial clefts provided occupational histories and exposure (yes/no) to selected classes of agents for the one-year period prior to their child's delivery. Two industrial hygienists reviewed the occupational histories and assigned mothers an exposure status for each class of agent. Using industrial hygienist-assessed exposure as the ``gold standard'', sensitivity and speci®city of maternal reports were calculated for each class of agent. Kappa statistics were calculated for the study population to account for chance agreement between the two exposure assessment methods. Results Sensitivity estimates for cases were the highest for video display terminals (77%) and lowest for agricultural chemicals (14%). Respective estimates for controls were 74% and 14%. Speci®city estimates tended to be high for both groups. Kappa values ranged from 0.16±0.45. Conclusions With regard to the classes of agents examined, these data suggest screening questions alone may not be the preferred method of obtaining occupational exposure histories, even when the time period of interest is fairly short and recent. Am.