Personal factors influencing agreement between expert and self-reported assessments of an occupational exposure
Neilson, H.K.; Sass-Kortsak, A.; Lou, W.Y.Wendy.; Purdham, J.T.
Chronic Diseases in Canada 28(1-2): 1-9
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0228-8699 PMID: 17953793 Document Number: 608812
This study aimed to identify personal factors associated with expert and respondent agreement on past occupational exposure. Epidemiologic data was collected from 1995 to 1998 in a community-based, case-control study of prostate cancer. Using longest jobs and excluding agreement on "never" exposure, self-reported and expert estimates of ever/ never exposure, by skin or ingestion, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were compared. Agreement between respondents and the expert was 53.9 percent (N=1,038), with overreporting being more common than underreporting relative to the expert (31.8 percent versus 14.4 percent). In multiple logistic regression models, white-collar occupational status was significantly associated with overreporting (odds ratio [OR] = 0.142; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 0.095-0.211; blue-collar versus white-collar), while age was associated with underreporting (OR=1.077; 95 percent CI: 1.043-1.112; one-year increase). Neither job satisfaction nor risk perception appeared to confound other associations. In future studies, overreporting by white-collar workers might be avoided by providing clearer definitions of exposure, whereas elderly respondents may require aids to enhance exposure recall.