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Total recall in the SCAMP cohort: Validation of self-reported mobile phone use in the smartphone era

2017 · Unclear · Moderate evidence

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UnclearModerate evidencePaper 2312

In 350 adolescents, agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data was highest for daily call duration (38.9% weekdays; 29.4% weekends) and lower for call frequency and texts; adolescents overestimated use on weekends compar…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2017
Study typeexposure_assessment
Reported directionUnclear
Evidence ratingModerate

Abstract

Total recall in the SCAMP cohort: Validation of self-reported mobile phone use in the smartphone era Mireku MO, Mueller W, Fleming C, Chang I, Dumontheil I, Thomas MSC, Eeftens M, Elliott P, Röösli M, Toledano MB. Total recall in the SCAMP cohort: Validation of self-reported mobile phone use in the smartphone era. Environ Res. 2017 Oct 30;161:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.10.034. Abstract Mobile phone use, predominantly smartphones, is almost ubiquitous amongst both adults and children. However adults and children have different usage patterns. A major challenge with research on mobile phone use is the reliability of self-reported phone activity for accurate exposure assessment. We investigated the agreement between self-reported mobile phone use data and objective mobile operator traffic data in a subset of adolescents aged 11-12 years participating in the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) cohort. We examined self-reported mobile phone use, including call frequency, cumulative call time duration and text messages sent among adolescents from SCAMP and matched these data with records provided by mobile network operators (n = 350). The extent of agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data use was evaluated using Cohen's weighted Kappa (ĸ) statistics. Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported low (< 1 call/day, ≤ 5min of call/day or ≤ 5 text messages sent/day) and high (≥ 11 calls/day, > 30min of call/day or ≥ 11 text messages sent /day) use were estimated. Agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data was highest for the duration spent talking on mobile phones per day on weekdays (38.9%) and weekends (29.4%) compared to frequency of calls and number of text messages sent. Adolescents overestimated their mobile phone use during weekends compared to weekdays. Analysis of agreement showed little difference overall between the sexes and socio-economic groups. Weighted kappa between self-reported and mobile operator traffic data for call frequency during weekdays was κ = 0.12, 95% CI 0.06-0.18. Of the three modes of mobile phone use measured in the questionnaire, call frequency was the most sensitive for low mobile phone users on weekdays and weekends (77.1, 95% CI: 69.3-83.7 and 72.0, 95% CI: 65.0-78.4, respectively). Specificity was moderate to high for high users with the highest for call frequency during weekdays (98.4, 95% CI: 96.4-99.5). Despite differential agreement between adolescents' self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data, our findings demonstrate that self-reported usage adequately distinguishes between high and low use. The greater use of mobile smartphones over Wi-Fi networks by adolescents, as opposed to mobile phone networks, means operator data are not the gold standard for exposure assessment in this age group. This has important implications for epidemiologic research on the health effects of mobile phone use in adolescents. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeexposure_assessment
Effect directionunclear
PopulationAdolescents aged 11–12 years participating in the SCAMP cohort
Sample size350
ExposureRF
Evidence strengthModerateConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

In 350 adolescents, agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data was highest for daily call duration (38.9% weekdays; 29.4% weekends) and lower for call frequency and texts; adolescents overestimated use on weekends compared with weekdays. Weighted kappa for call frequency on weekdays was κ=0.12 (95% CI 0.06–0.18); self-reported call frequency showed sensitivity for identifying low users (77.1% weekdays; 72.0% weekends) and high specificity for identifying high users (up to 98.4% on weekdays).

Outcomes measured

  • Agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data (call frequency, cumulative call duration, text messages)
  • Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported low vs high mobile phone use categories

Limitations

  • Operator traffic data may not be a gold standard for exposure assessment in adolescents due to greater smartphone use over Wi‑Fi rather than mobile networks
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "exposure_assessment",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Adolescents aged 11–12 years participating in the SCAMP cohort",
  "sample_size": 350,
  "outcomes": [
    "Agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data (call frequency, cumulative call duration, text messages)",
    "Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported low vs high mobile phone use categories"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In 350 adolescents, agreement between self-reported mobile phone use and mobile operator traffic data was highest for daily call duration (38.9% weekdays; 29.4% weekends) and lower for call frequency and texts; adolescents overestimated use on weekends compared with weekdays. Weighted kappa for call frequency on weekdays was κ=0.12 (95% CI 0.06–0.18); self-reported call frequency showed sensitivity for identifying low users (77.1% weekdays; 72.0% weekends) and high specificity for identifying high users (up to 98.4% on weekdays).",
  "effect_direction": "unclear",
  "limitations": [
    "Operator traffic data may not be a gold standard for exposure assessment in adolescents due to greater smartphone use over Wi‑Fi rather than mobile networks"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "moderate",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "SCAMP cohort",
    "adolescents",
    "self-report",
    "mobile phone use",
    "smartphone era",
    "exposure assessment",
    "operator traffic data",
    "validation",
    "Cohen's weighted kappa",
    "sensitivity",
    "specificity",
    "Wi-Fi"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "school-wi-fi",
      "weight": 0.35,
      "reason": "Abstract notes adolescents' greater smartphone use over Wi‑Fi networks, affecting exposure assessment."
    }
  ]
}
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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.10.034
PubMed: Not supplied

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