Reproducibility of reported in utero exposure to tobacco smoke.
OBJECTIVE
In studies of the fetal origins of disease and life course epidemiology, measures of fetal exposure may be based on information reported by the adults who were exposed in utero. In particular, the full spectrum of consequences of in utero exposure to maternal tobacco smoking is now an area of active investigation, and the ability to report such exposure reproducibly is of interest. We evaluated the reproducibility of in utero exposure to tobacco smoke, reported by the adult daughter during consecutive pregnancies.


METHODS
This study was based on 11,257 women who enrolled for more than one pregnancy in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Participants completed a questionnaire around 17 weeks of gestation, which asked about their in utero exposure to tobacco smoke. Kappa statistics were calculated. Determinants of agreement were evaluated using logistic regression.


RESULTS
Weighted Kappa for in utero exposure for the first and second reports was 0.80. Determinants of agreement were higher education (better) and longer time between reports (worse).


CONCLUSIONS
Information on in utero exposure to maternal tobacco smoking provided by adult women was highly reproducible in this population.
Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Human and Health Services, Durham, NC 27709, USA. cupuluicabl@niehs.nih.gov
Lea A
LA
Cupul-Uicab
Xibiao
X
Ye
Rolv
R
Skjaerven
Kjell
K
Haug
Matthew P
MP
Longnecker
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution