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

Introduction: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusions: 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.

Metodi: II questionario autocompilato dai genitori dei bambini comprende 148 domande riguardanti la salute, l'attivita fisica dei bambini, le esposizioni ambientali e la frequenza di consumo degli alimenti nei principali pasti della giornata. E stato in primis effettuato uno studio di fattibilita del questionario su 53 genitori volontari; successivamente e stato condotto uno studio di ripetibilita con doppia compilazione del questionario (tecnica del test re-test) a distanza di un mese su 156 soggetti. La concordanza delle risposte date alia la ed alia 2a somministrazione e stata valutata con la statistica Kappa e il coefficiente di Spearman. Risultati: La fattibilita del questionario e risultata soddisfacente. L analisi della ripetibilita e stata condotta su 132 questionari completi. La percentuale di accordo tra le risposte fornite nel 1° e nel 2° questionario e risultata mediamente maggiore al 70%, con kappa superiore a 0.6. Conclusions II questionario preparato e risultato fattibile ed affidabile per la raccolta di informazioni riguardanti diversi fattori di interesse nello studio della relazione tra inquinamento atmosferico ed effetti biologici precoci nei bambini.