Reinier Kyndaron, Hammond S Katharine, Buffler Patricia A, Gunier Robert B, Lea C Suzanne, Quinlan Patricia, Kirsch Jan
School of Public Health, Division of Public Health Biology and Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States.
Scand J Work Environ Health. 2004 Dec;30(6):450-8. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.834.
This paper presents the results of a pilot study of job-specific modules developed for use in the study questionnaire of the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study (i) to estimate the variability in response between people administered the same module and (ii) to estimate the number of modules required per family.
For 63 participants in the pilot study, between-person variability was assessed by comparing reported job tasks among the respondents administered the same job-specific module. Within-respondent variability was assessed by examining changes in the timing and frequency of the job tasks and product use across critical time segments from 12 months before the child's birth to 3 years of age. Parental occupational histories were reviewed to estimate the expected number of job-specific modules required per family.
Considerable variability was identified for the tasks performed by the respondents with similar jobs and in the timing of tasks and products used across critical time windows. Parents' occupational histories indicated that detailed exposure information could be obtained for 95% of the families with a maximum of two job-specific modules added to the study interview.
The job-specific modules captured individualized exposure information for the parents of cases and controls and thus reduced the potential for nondifferential misclassification when compared with the use of a job title approach, while avoiding an exposure checklist approach. These improvements in exposure estimation may increase the statistical power for identifying any true association between parental occupational exposures and childhood leukemia.
本文介绍了一项初步研究的结果，该研究针对为北加利福尼亚儿童白血病研究调查问卷开发的特定工作模块展开，（i）旨在估计接受相同模块调查的人群之间的回答差异，以及（ii）估计每个家庭所需的模块数量。
对于初步研究中的63名参与者，通过比较接受相同特定工作模块调查的受访者所报告的工作任务，评估个体间差异。通过检查从孩子出生前12个月到3岁的关键时间段内工作任务的时间安排和频率以及产品使用情况的变化，评估受访者内部差异。审查父母的职业史，以估计每个家庭所需的特定工作模块的预期数量。
在从事类似工作的受访者所执行的任务以及关键时间窗口内使用的任务和产品的时间安排方面，发现了相当大的差异。父母的职业史表明，在研究访谈中最多添加两个特定工作模块的情况下，95%的家庭能够获得详细的暴露信息。
特定工作模块获取了病例和对照父母的个性化暴露信息，因此与使用职位名称方法相比，减少了无差异错误分类的可能性，同时避免了暴露清单方法。暴露估计方面的这些改进可能会提高识别父母职业暴露与儿童白血病之间任何真实关联的统计效力。
