Recall of Reproductive History in Agricultural Workers
Grazia Petrelli1, Irene Figa-Talamanca2, Franco Taggi1
1 Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy
2 Department of Animal and Human Biology, University “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
Corresponding author: Dr. Grazia Petrelli
Laboratorio di Epidemiologia e Biostatistica
Istituto Superiore di Sanita
Viale Regina Elena, 29
00161 Roma, Italy
Telephone: (+39) 06 4990 2306
Fax number: (+39) 06 4938 7069
CEJOEM 2000, Vol.6. No.4.:265-271
Key words:
Time to pregnancy, agricultural workers, recall, couple agreement
Abstract:
The relation between reproductive damage and occupational and environmental toxic substances
has been investigated in retrospective epidemiological studies by means of time to pregnancy
(TTP). This measure has been validated in several studies conducted on working population, in
particular among women. The present paper attempts to evaluate the agreement between recalls of
the husband and wife on reproductive history among agricultural workers. The study was carried
out in an agricultural area of Central Italy and involved 164 farmers, aged 20-55, licensed to
handle pesticides, and their wives. Detailed data on reproductive history were collected by
personal interview. Subsequently the farmers' wives were interviewed by telephone. The couples'
agreement on the date of marriage was equal to 82.9%, on the birth date of the first child proved
to be 83.4%. Concordance on miscarriages was 92.7% (k=0.76) while that on the smoking habits of
wives before the first pregnancy was 92.7 (k=0.74). The distribution of the difference of TTP
reported by partners showed that 50% reported the same value while at 76% the differences did
not exceed ± 3 months. Among the younger couples, 60% reported the same value of TTP, 83% reported
differences within three months. The age of the respondent, however, was not a crucial factor in
the concordance of husband-wife responses when the delay was beyond 12 months.
In conclusion, on the basis of the results, it can reasonably be
affirmed that the male's recall can be considered as acceptable to study the reproductive
history in this agricultural population.
Received: 02 October 2000
Accepted: 14 December 2000
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