Modeled and Perceived RF-EMF, Noise, Air Pollution and Symptoms in a Population Cohort: Is Perception Key in Predicting Symptoms?

摘要

Introduction Psychosocial research has shown that perceived exposure can influence symptom reporting, regardless of actual exposure. The impact of this phenomenon on the interpretation of results from epidemiological research of environmental determinants on self-reported health is unclear. Methods In this study we compared associations between modeled exposures, the perceived degree of being exposed to these exposures and reported symptoms (nonspecific symptoms, sleep disturbances, respiratory symptoms) for three environmental exposures (radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), noise, and air pollution) which vary in the degree to which they can be sensorially observed. Participant characteristics, perceived exposures, and self-reported health were assessed with baseline (n=14829, 2011/2012) and follow-up (n=7905, 2015) questionnaires in the Dutch population-based Occupational and Environmental Health Cohort study (AMIGO). Environmental exposures were estimated at the home address using spatial models. Cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models were used to examine the associations between modeled and perceived exposures, and reported symptoms. Results The extent to which exposure sources could be observed likely influenced correlations between modeled and perceived exposure as correlations were moderate for air pollution (rSp=0.34) and noise (rSp=0.40), but less so for RF-EMF (rSp=0.11). Perceived exposures were consistently associated with increased symptom reporting (non-specific, sleep, respiratory). In general, modeled exposures were associated with increased symptom reporting, but these associations were strongly attenuated when perceived exposure was accounted for in the analyses. Discussion Perceived exposure has an important role in symptom reporting. Evaluations of environmental determinants of symptom reporting may result in biased estimates if exposure perception is not taken into account.