TY - JOUR
T1 - An international prospective cohort study of mobile phone users and health (COSMOS)
T2 - Factors affecting validity of self-reported mobile phone use
AU - Toledano, Mireille B
AU - Auvinen, Anssi
AU - Tettamanti, Giorgio
AU - Cao, Yang
AU - Feychting, Maria
AU - Ahlbom, Anders
AU - Fremling, Karin
AU - Heinävaara, Sirpa
AU - Kojo, Katja
AU - Knowles, Gemma
AU - Smith, Rachel B
AU - Schüz, Joachim
AU - Johansen, Christoffer
AU - Poulsen, Aslak Harbo
AU - Deltour, Isabelle
AU - Vermeulen, Roel
AU - Kromhout, Hans
AU - Elliott, Paul
AU - Hillert, Lena
N1 - Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - This study investigates validity of self-reported mobile phone use in a subset of 75 993 adults from the COSMOS cohort study. Agreement between self-reported and operator-derived mobile call frequency and duration for a 3-month period was assessed using Cohen's weighted Kappa (κ). Sensitivity and specificity of both self-reported high (≥10 calls/day or ≥4h/week) and low (≤6 calls/week or <30min/week) mobile phone use were calculated, as compared to operator data. For users of one mobile phone, agreement was fair for call frequency (κ=0.35, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.36) and moderate for call duration (κ=0.50, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.50). Self-reported low call frequency and duration demonstrated high sensitivity (87% and 76% respectively), but for high call frequency and duration sensitivity was lower (38% and 56% respectively), reflecting a tendency for greater underestimation than overestimation. Validity of self-reported mobile phone use was lower in women, younger age groups and those reporting symptoms during/shortly after using a mobile phone. This study highlights the ongoing value of using self-report data to measure mobile phone use. Furthermore, compared to continuous scale estimates used by previous studies, categorical response options used in COSMOS appear to improve validity considerably, most likely by preventing unrealistically high estimates from being reported.
AB - This study investigates validity of self-reported mobile phone use in a subset of 75 993 adults from the COSMOS cohort study. Agreement between self-reported and operator-derived mobile call frequency and duration for a 3-month period was assessed using Cohen's weighted Kappa (κ). Sensitivity and specificity of both self-reported high (≥10 calls/day or ≥4h/week) and low (≤6 calls/week or <30min/week) mobile phone use were calculated, as compared to operator data. For users of one mobile phone, agreement was fair for call frequency (κ=0.35, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.36) and moderate for call duration (κ=0.50, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.50). Self-reported low call frequency and duration demonstrated high sensitivity (87% and 76% respectively), but for high call frequency and duration sensitivity was lower (38% and 56% respectively), reflecting a tendency for greater underestimation than overestimation. Validity of self-reported mobile phone use was lower in women, younger age groups and those reporting symptoms during/shortly after using a mobile phone. This study highlights the ongoing value of using self-report data to measure mobile phone use. Furthermore, compared to continuous scale estimates used by previous studies, categorical response options used in COSMOS appear to improve validity considerably, most likely by preventing unrealistically high estimates from being reported.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Adult
KW - Cell Phone/statistics & numerical data
KW - Cell Phone Use/adverse effects
KW - Cohort Studies
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Self Report
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.09.008
DO - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.09.008
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 29056311
SN - 1438-4639
VL - 221
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
JF - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
IS - 1
ER -