. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Mar 1.

Published in final edited form as: Occup Environ Med. 2008 Sep 19;66(3):154–160. doi: 10.1136/oem.2008.040022

Table 4.

Comparative performance of self-reported exposure to vapors gas dust and fume (VGDF) and job exposure matrix (JEM) in multiple studies

Author (ref)	Study Population	Comparison	Findings
Bakke et al (11)	Cohort study, subjects with and without asthma.	VGDF (gas and dust only) vs. expert interview (no JEM used)	Asthma vs. all others: sensitivity 65% vs. 64%; specificity 80 vs. 91%.
de Vocht et al (14)	Cohort study, subjects with and without asthma.	VGDF (single item) vs. JEM (expert review)	Asthma vs. all others: sensitivity 48% vs. 42%; specificity 83% vs. 87%; kappa 0.31 vs. 0.32
Le Moual et al (15)	Several cohorts, general population samples.	VGDF (single item or modified checklist) vs. JEM (based proportion of jobs with self-reported VGDF; no expert review step)	Agreement between VGDF and JEM: kappa range 0.30 to 0.58 by cohort for single item; kappa 0.71 for modified checklist (one cohort)
Blanc et al (25)	Cohort study, subjects with and without respiratory disorders.	VGDF (single item) vs. JEM (no expert review step)	Sensitivity 64%, specificity 74% overall; COPD or asthma vs. all others: kappa 0.40 vs. 0.36.
Current study	Cohort study, all subjects with asthma or rhinitis.	VGDF (single item) vs. JEM (expert review)	Sensitivity 71%, specificity 66% overall; asthma and rhinitis v. rhinitis alone: kappa 0.49 vs. 0.12.