Validity and reliability of exposure assessors' ratings of exposure intensity by type of occupational questionnaire and type of rater.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In epidemiologic studies that rely on professional judgment to assess occupational exposures, the raters' accurate assessment is vital to detect associations. We examined the influence of the type of questionnaire, type of industry, and type of rater on the raters' ability to reliably and validly assess within-industry differences in exposure. Our aim was to identify areas where improvements in exposure assessment may be possible.

Methods

Subjects from three foundries (n = 72) and three textile plants (n = 74) in Shanghai, China, completed an occupational history (OH) and an industry-specific questionnaire (IQ). Six total dust measurements were collected per subject and were used to calculate a subject-specific measurement mean, which was used as the gold standard

SUBMITTER: Friesen MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3131504 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature