Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Dec;19(12):3005-12. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0709. Epub 2010 Oct 12.
Reliance on verbal self-report of solar exposure in skin cancer prevention and epidemiologic studies may be problematic if self-report data are not valid due to systematic errors in recall, social desirability bias, or other reasons.
This study examines the validity of self-reports of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) compared to objectively measured exposure among children and adults in outdoor recreation settings in 4 regions of the United States. Objective UVR exposures of 515 participants were measured using polysulfone film badge UVR dosimeters on 2 days. The same subjects provided self-reported UVR exposure data on surveys and 4-day sun exposure diaries, for comparison to their objectively measured exposure.
Dosimeter data showed that lifeguards had the greatest UVR exposure (24.5% of weekday ambient UVR), children the next highest exposures (10.3% ambient weekday UVR), and parents had the lowest (6.6% ambient weekday UVR). Similar patterns were observed in self-report data. Correlations between diary reports and dosimeter findings were fair to good and were highest for lifeguards (r = 0.38-0.57), followed by parents (r = 0.28-0.29) and children (r = 0.18-0.34). Correlations between survey and diary measures were moderate to good for lifeguards (r = 0.20-0.54) and children (r = 0.35-0.53).
This is the largest study of its kind to date, and supports the utility of self-report measures of solar UVR exposure.
Overall, self-reports of sun exposure produce valid measures of UVR exposure among parents, children, and lifeguards who work outdoors.
如果由于回忆中的系统误差、社会期望偏差或其他原因，自我报告的数据无效，那么在皮肤癌预防和流行病学研究中依赖口头自我报告的太阳暴露可能会出现问题。
本研究在美国 4 个地区的户外娱乐场所中，比较了儿童和成人的自我报告紫外线辐射（UVR）暴露与客观测量的暴露，以检验自我报告的有效性。515 名参与者的客观 UVR 暴露使用聚砜膜badge UVR 剂量计在 2 天内进行测量。同一批研究对象在调查和 4 天的日光暴露日记中提供了自我报告的 UVR 暴露数据，以便与他们的客观测量的暴露进行比较。
剂量计数据显示，救生员的 UVR 暴露最大（占工作日环境 UVR 的 24.5%），儿童次之（占工作日环境 UVR 的 10.3%），父母最低（占工作日环境 UVR 的 6.6%）。在自我报告数据中也观察到类似的模式。日记报告与剂量计结果之间的相关性为中等至良好，救生员的相关性最高（r = 0.38-0.57），其次是父母（r = 0.28-0.29）和儿童（r = 0.18-0.34）。对于救生员（r = 0.20-0.54）和儿童（r = 0.35-0.53），调查和日记测量之间的相关性为中等至良好。
这是迄今为止此类研究中规模最大的研究，支持了自我报告的太阳 UVR 暴露测量的实用性。
总体而言，自我报告的日光暴露在户外工作的父母、儿童和救生员中产生了有效的 UVR 暴露测量值。
