title: Study of Use of Products and Exposure-Related Behaviors (SUPERB): study design, methods, and demographic characteristics of cohorts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Exposure to toxic chemicals in the home is a growing concern. This report presents an overview of the recruitment, methods for data collection, instruments used to collect data, and participant demographics for a study examining behaviors that influence exposure to environmental toxins in the home environment, also known as SUPERB (Study of Use of Products and Exposure Related Behaviors).
  
  
  METHODS
  The methods involved three different platforms: telephone interviews, internet-based surveys, and home-based monitoring. The purposes of SUPERB were: first, to compare data collection platforms with regard to feasibility, acceptability and reliability; and second, to provide longitudinal population-based data characterizing seasonal and long-term changes in exposure-related behaviors including food consumption, temporal-spatial activity, and household product use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two cohorts of households were enrolled: families (one parent and one child) from northern California and older individuals (age 55+) from central California. Parents (n = 499) in Northern California families were on average 36 years of age, 47.1% were Latino or nonwhite, and 10.2% took the survey in Spanish. Most of the children enrolled (n = 566) were under 6 years (82.7%). The older adults enrolled (n = 156) were, on average, 66 years of age and 23.7% were Latino or nonwhite, but only 2.6% completed the survey in Spanish.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that oversampling was successful in improving recruitment of under-represented subgroups, such as those with low education, thereby increasing diversity of our study sample. Protocols that minimize participant time, e.g., use of bar scanners and scales rather than questionnaires regarding use of household products, and the implementation of these protocols by staff who built relationships of trust, resulted in high retention over a longitudinal data collection scheme. A relatively small fraction of those who volunteer for longitudinal internet surveys are consistent in filling them out. Future reports will provide critical information on cross-sectional, seasonal and longitudinal patterns of exposure related behaviors in young children, parents of young children, and older adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. ihp@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Irva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hertz-Picciotto
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cassady
authors.forename: Kiyoung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Deborah H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ritz
authors.forename: Raea
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vogt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006795:Household Products / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012107:Research Design
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 1990 Apr;90(4):559-62
references.pmid: 2319077
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr;89(4):1220-6
references.pmid: 19225114
references.citation: J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2001 May-Jun;11(3):231-52
references.pmid: 11477521
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2003 Jan;111(1):115-22
references.pmid: 12515689
references.citation: Environ Res. 1995 Apr;69(1):15-30
references.pmid: 7588491
references.citation: Environ Res. 2000 Oct;84(2):170-85
references.pmid: 11068931
references.citation: Public Health Nutr. 2001 Dec;4(6):1279-86
references.pmid: 11796091
references.citation: J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol. 2000 Nov-Dec;10(6 Pt 1):566-78
references.pmid: 11140440
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 1985 Jul;122(1):51-65
references.pmid: 4014201
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 1998 Feb;106 Suppl 1:387-90
references.pmid: 9539035
references.citation: Vet Hum Toxicol. 1991 Feb;33(1):61-5
references.pmid: 2017868
references.citation: JAMA. 1999 Jun 23-30;281(24):2289-93
references.pmid: 10386552
references.citation: Obes Res. 2001 Jun;9(6):368-79
references.pmid: 11399784
references.citation: Food Chem Toxicol. 2002 Feb-Mar;40(2-3):327-85
references.pmid: 11893401
references.citation: Environ Health Perspect. 2004 Oct;112(14):1386-92
references.pmid: 15471730