Premium
Comparison of self‐assessment of solvent exposure with measurement and professional assessment for female petrochemical workers in China *
Author(s) -
Hu Ye A.,
Smith Thomas J.,
Xu Xiping,
Wang Lihua,
Watanabe Hiroshi,
Christiani David C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.10069
Subject(s) - self assessment , medicine , risk assessment , xylene , occupational exposure , benzene , exposure assessment , solvent exposure , occupational medicine , styrene , toluene , environmental health , psychology , organic chemistry , social psychology , computer science , chemistry , copolymer , polymer , computer security
Objective The primary objective of this paper is to examine the validity of self‐assessment of solvent exposure by comparing it with professional assessment and actual measurements. Methods Self‐assessment of exposures to benzene, toluene, styrene, and xylene was obtained from 132 female workers. The exposures were also estimated by an occupational hygienist and by actual measurement. Self‐assessment, professional assessment, and measurement were then compared with each other. Results Fair to good agreement was found between self‐assessment, professional assessment, and measurement for benzene, styrene, and xylene. The agreement between self‐assessment and measurement was poor for toluene, whereas the agreement between self‐assessment and professional assessment was good. The latter was caused by a biased professional assessment. Conclusions Workers' self‐assessment and professional assessment provided useful information for benzene, styrene, and xylene exposure, but not for toluene exposure. False agreement can be obtained when professional assessment was used as reference in validity study. Am. J. Ind. Med. 41:483–489, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.