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Recall accuracy of mobile phone calls among Japanese young people

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 26, pages 566–574 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the recall accuracy of mobile phone calls among young people using new software-modified phone (SMP) technology. A total of 198 Japanese students aged between 10 and 24 years were instructed to use a SMP for 1 month to record their actual call statuses. Ten to 12 months after this period, face-to-face interviews were conducted to obtain the self-reported call statuses during the monitoring period. Using the SMP record as the gold standard of validation, the recall accuracy of phone calls was evaluated. A total of 19% of the participants (34/177) misclassified their laterality (i.e., the dominant side of ear used while making calls), with the level of agreement being moderate (κ-statistics, 0.449). The level of agreement between the self-reports and SMP records was relatively good for the duration of calls (Pearson’s r, 0.620), as compared with the number of calls (Pearson’s r, 0.561). The recall was prone to small systematic and large random errors for both the number and duration of calls. Such a large random recall error for the amount of calls and misclassification of laterality suggest that the results of epidemiological studies of mobile phone use based on self-assessment should be interpreted cautiously.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan. We sincerely thank Noritoshi Fukushima, Daisuke Furushima, Yuko Asano and Yuri Sunaya for the data collection; Kaoru Esaki for the data processing; and Paul Matychuk for language support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Kosuke Kiyohara, Yasuto Sato, Noriko Kojimahara & Naohito Yamaguchi

  2. Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory, Applied Electromagnetic Research Institute, National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan

    Kanako Wake & Soichi Watanabe

  3. Division of Advanced Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei-shi, Tokyo, Japan

    Takuji Arima

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

    Masao Taki

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  1. Kosuke Kiyohara
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Correspondence to Kosuke Kiyohara.

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Kiyohara, K., Wake, K., Watanabe, S. et al. Recall accuracy of mobile phone calls among Japanese young people. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26, 566–574 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2015.13

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