title: Feasibility and reliability of a questionnaire for evaluation of the exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollutants, diet and physical activity in 6-8-year-old children.
abstract: The MAPEC-Life project aims to study the biological effects of early exposure to air pollutants on the oral mucosa cells of school-age children in five Italian cities. A questionnaire was created to evaluate the association between outdoor and indoor airborne pollutants, lifestyle, diet and biomarker effects. The feasibility and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated.
  
  
  
  A questionnaire was drawn up to be filled in by the parents of 6-8-year-old children. It consisted of 148 questions on the children's health, physical activity, environmental exposures and the frequency of food consumption at the main meals. First we conducted a questionnaire feasibility study involving 53 volunteer parents. We then performed a reliability study by administering the questionnaire to a further 156 parents and again one month later (test/retest method). The correlations between answers at the first and second administration of the questionnaire were evaluated using the Kappa statistic and Spearman's coefficient.
  
  
  
  After verifying the feasibility of the questionnaire, we conducted a reliability analysis on 132 completed questionnaires. The percentage of agreement between the first and the second responses given was over 70%, all K values being greater than 0.6. The analysis of calories and macronutrients also showed good agreement.
  
  
  
  The questionnaire drawn up for the study proved to be sufficiently reliable for gathering information about the factors of interest in our study of the relationship between air pollution and early biological effects in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Foundation, National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: G C V
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Viola
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ceretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Festa
authors.affiliation: Municipality of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonizzoni
authors.affiliation: Centro Servizi Multisettoriale e Tecnologico-CSMT Gestione S.c.a.r.l., Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monarca
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villarini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levorato
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carducci
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Casini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Donno
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Idolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carraro
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonetta
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Surgical Specialities, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gelatti
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010290:Parents; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Children; Food-frequency questionnaire; Reliability; Repeatability,