Occupational and environmental medicine
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Comparative Study
Performance of self-reported occupational exposure compared to a job-exposure matrix approach in asthma and chronic rhinitis.
Self-reported exposure to vapours, gas, dust or fumes (VGDF) has been widely used as an occupational exposure metric in epidemiological studies of chronic lung diseases. Our objective was to characterise the performance of VGDF for repeatability, systematic misclassification, and sensitivity and specificity against exposure likelihood by a job-exposure matrix (JEM). ⋯ The VGDF item is moderately sensitive measured against JEM as a benchmark. The measure is a useful assessment method for epidemiological studies of occupational exposure risk.