AGREEMENT AMONG TEXTILE-INDUSTRY EXPOSURES DURING PREGNANCY BASED ON WORK DESCRIPTION, JOB TITLE, AND SELF-REPORT

In the absence of direct information on workplace exposures, a variety of indirect strategies can be used in community-based occupational he alth studies. We conducted a case-control study of occupational exposu res and pregnancy outcome in an area with a high concentration of text ile employment. information on five exposures common in the textile in dustry (vibration, solvents, standing, heat, and noise), based on job titles and work descriptions, was obtained and interpreted by occupati onal health specialists, along with self-reported exposures. 103 jobs held by women and 109 jobs held by their male partners in knitting mil ls and yam, thread, and fabric mills were analyzed. Concordance as mea sured by kappa statistics indicated very poor agreement among the meth ods for all exposures except for good agreement on standing for both w omen and their male partners. Compared to normal controls, results did not differ systematically for miscarriage or preterm delivery/low bir th weight cases. These data add to the literature indicating that indi rect measures of workplace exposure have low reliability and probably low validity as well.