American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 128, No. 5: 1117-1129
Copyright © 1988 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
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VALIDATION OF A SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ASSESSING OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES OF PREGNANT WOMEN
1Department of Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, CA
2Northern California Occupational Health Center, University of California Berkeley, CA
Reprint requests to Dr. Brenda Eskenazi, 312 Warren Hall, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
The present investigation sought to determine whether a self-administered questionnaire could be used to obtain occupational information from pregnant women attending the obstetrical clinics at the University of California, San Francisco from July to November 1986. The authors compared the accuracy of responses of 57 women on the self-administered questionnaire with those obtained on a detailed clinical interview by an occupational health professional. The self-administered questionnaire and the clinical interview included information on the woman's job title, the type of company she worked for, the level of physical activity, her exposures on the job and at home, and her partner occupation. The authors also examined whether the "validity" of the self-administered questionnaire could be improved on review by an industrial hygienist. The questionnaire took less than 20 minutes to complete, with over 90% of the women answering three-quarters of it. It was "substantially" accurate in obtaining information on number of hours worked during pregnancy, type of shift worked, and stress level in the workplace; exposure to radiation, video display terminals, fumes, gases, and cigarette smoke in the workplace; and exposure to pesticides, paint, and cigarette smoke at home. On those variables for which the responses on the self-administered questionnaire were less accurate, review by the industrial hygienist improved the level of accuracy considerably. These findings suggest that a self-administered questionnaire can be used to obtain valid information from pregnant women attending a prenatal clinic.
environmental health; occupational medicine; pregnancy; prenatal exposure delayed effects; questionnaires
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