Estimation of TETRA radio use in the Airwave Health Monitoring Study of the British police forces

Abstract

Estimation of TETRA radio use in the Airwave Health Monitoring Study of the British police forces Vergnaud AC, Aresu M, Kongsgård HW, McRobie D, Singh D, Spear J, Heard A, Gao H, Carpenter JR, Elliott P. Estimation of TETRA radio use in the Airwave Health Monitoring Study of the British police forces. Environ Res. 2018 Nov;167:169-174. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.07.015. Abstract BACKGROUND: The Airwave Health Monitoring Study aims to investigate the possible long-term health effects of Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) use among the police forces in Great Britain. Here, we investigate whether objective data from the network operator could be used to correct for misreporting in self-reported data and expand the radio usage availability in our cohort. METHODS: We estimated average monthly usage of personal radio in the 12 months prior to enrolment from a missing value imputation model and evaluated its performance against objective and self-reported data. Factors associated with TETRA radio usage variables were investigated using Chi-square tests and analysis of variance. RESULTS: The imputed data were better correlated with objective than self-reported usage (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.72 vs. 0. 52 and kappa 0.56 [95% confidence interval 0.55, 0.56] vs. 0.46 [0.45, 0.47]), although the imputation model tended to under-estimate use for higher users. Participants with higher personal radio usage were more likely to be younger, men vs. women and officer vs. staff. The median average monthly usage level for the entire cohort was estimated to be 29.3 min (95% CI: [7.2, 66.6]). CONCLUSION: The availability of objective personal radio records for a large proportion of users allowed us to develop a robust imputation model and hence obtain personal radio usage estimates for ~50,000 participants. This substantially reduced exposure misclassification compared to using self-reported data and will allow us to carry out analyses of TETRA usage for the entire cohort in future work. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

Imputed TETRA radio usage estimates correlated better with objective network-operator records than self-reported usage (Spearman 0.72 vs 0.52; kappa 0.56 vs 0.46), though the model tended to under-estimate use among higher users. Median estimated average monthly usage for the cohort was 29.3 minutes (95% CI 7.2–66.6), and higher usage was more common among younger participants, men, and officers (vs staff).

Outcomes measured

• TETRA personal radio usage estimation (average monthly minutes)
• Agreement/correlation between imputed, objective, and self-reported usage
• Factors associated with radio usage (age, sex, officer vs staff)

Limitations

• Imputation model tended to under-estimate use for higher users

Suggested hubs

• occupational-exposure (0.9)
  Study estimates occupational TETRA radio use among British police and addresses exposure misclassification using objective operator records.

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    "study_type": "exposure_assessment",
    "exposure": {
        "band": null,
        "source": "TETRA personal radio (police forces)",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": "Estimated average monthly usage in the 12 months prior to enrolment"
    },
    "population": "Police forces in Great Britain (Airwave Health Monitoring Study participants)",
    "sample_size": 50000,
    "outcomes": [
        "TETRA personal radio usage estimation (average monthly minutes)",
        "Agreement/correlation between imputed, objective, and self-reported usage",
        "Factors associated with radio usage (age, sex, officer vs staff)"
    ],
    "main_findings": "Imputed TETRA radio usage estimates correlated better with objective network-operator records than self-reported usage (Spearman 0.72 vs 0.52; kappa 0.56 vs 0.46), though the model tended to under-estimate use among higher users. Median estimated average monthly usage for the cohort was 29.3 minutes (95% CI 7.2–66.6), and higher usage was more common among younger participants, men, and officers (vs staff).",
    "effect_direction": "unclear",
    "limitations": [
        "Imputation model tended to under-estimate use for higher users"
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "moderate",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "TETRA",
        "Airwave Health Monitoring Study",
        "police",
        "occupational exposure",
        "exposure assessment",
        "imputation",
        "self-report",
        "objective records",
        "misclassification"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "occupational-exposure",
            "weight": 0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,
            "reason": "Study estimates occupational TETRA radio use among British police and addresses exposure misclassification using objective operator records."
        }
    ]
}

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