ArticlePloS one2019
New criteria for multiple chemical sensitivity based on the Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory developed in response to rapid changes in ongoing chemical exposures among Japanese.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensory abnormalities in autism spectrum disorder and their in vitro modeling.Translational psychiatry · 2025Review
- Enhancing parental awareness on multiple chemical sensitivities: lessons from repeated cross-sectional questionnaire surveys on children.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Factors Related to High Risk of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity among Japanese High School Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Prevalence and correlation of multiple chemical sensitivity and electromagnetic hypersensitivity with age, sex, and depression in the Japanese population: a retrospective study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome: First Symptoms and Evolution of the Clinical Picture: Case-Control Study/Epidemiological Case-Control Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.Brain sciences · 2021Review
- Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Patients Exposed to Moisture Damage at Work and in General Working-Age Population-The SAMDAW Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- An Unusual Case of Multiple Food Allergies Comorbid with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Case Report.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2021Article
- Study of the Correlation Between Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and Personality Using the Quick Environmental Exposure Sensitivity Inventory Questionnaire and the Temperament and Character Inventory.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND &
objectivesThe Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) developed by Miller and Prihoda in the USA is used as a questionnaire for patients with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) in >10 countries. We developed a Japanese version of QEESI, assessed its reliability and validity, and defined original cut-off values for screening Japanese patients with MCS in 2003. Our recent study revealed that opportunities for exposure to various chemicals had increased for people in Japan, while subjective symptoms of MCS in patients had increased in severity. In this study, we considered new cut-off values that combined QEESI subscale scores based on the current situation in Japan.
methodsThe questionnaire used was a Japanese version of QEESI. The survey was conducted from 2012 to 2015. Participants were 111 patients with MCS (mean age: 46 ± 20, 81% female) initially diagnosed by physicians, and 444 age- and gender-matched controls not diagnosed with MCS by doctors. The discriminatory validity of QEESI scores of patients and controls were evaluated by logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses when considering interactions of the Masking Index (ongoing chemical exposure). New combined cut-off values were then set.
resultsNew combined cut-off values (meeting conditions of Chemical Intolerances ≥ 30, Symptom Severity ≥ 13, and Life Impacts ≥ 17) showed high sensitivity (82.0%) and specificity (94.4%). Using new criteria when considering ongoing chemical exposure, study participants were categorized as: Very suggestive, Somewhat suggestive, Problematic, and Not suggestive. Participants classified as Very suggestive included 25 (5.6%) controls.
conclusionsWe have set new criteria with combined cut-off values based on current Japanese conditions. Such new criteria can be used for screening and as a diagnostic aid for Japanese patients with MCS and suggest approximately 6% of the Japanese general population may be classified as "Very suggestive people with MCS".
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