Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36734402›Full record

ArticleAnnals of work exposures and health2023

Automated Coding of Job Descriptions From a General Population Study: Overview of Existing Tools, Their Application and Comparison.

Wenxin Wan, Calvin B Ge, Melissa C Friesen, Sarah J Locke, Daniel E Russ, Igor Burstyn, Christopher J O Baker, Anil Adisesh, Qing Lan, Nathaniel Rothman and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of work exposures and health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Wenxin WanDepartment Population Health Sciences, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1957-4034
Calvin B GeDepartment Population Health Sciences, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Melissa C FriesenOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1695-3282
Sarah J LockeOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Daniel E RussOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4040-4416
Igor BurstynDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University, Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7153-4478
Christopher J O BakerDepartment of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Applied Science and Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada.
Anil AdiseshDivision of Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4973-8474
Qing LanDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Rockville, MD, USA.
Nathaniel RothmanOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Anke HussDepartment Population Health Sciences, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Martie van TongerenCentre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1205-1898
Roel VermeulenDepartment Population Health Sciences, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4082-8163
Susan PetersDepartment Population Health Sciences, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5662-1971

Funding

Cancer Risk in Human PopulationsZIACP010136 · NCI · DIVISION OF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS · PI PURDUE, MARK · 2009 to 2025
$36.7M
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAutomatic job coding tools were developed to reduce the laborious task of manually assigning job codes based on free-text job descriptions in census and survey data sources, including large occupational health studies. The objective of this study is to provide a case study of comparative performance of job coding and JEM (Job-Exposure Matrix)-assigned exposures agreement using existing coding tools.

methodsWe compared three automatic job coding tools [AUTONOC, CASCOT (Computer-Assisted Structured Coding Tool), and LabourR], which were selected based on availability, coding of English free-text into coding systems closely related to the 1988 version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88), and capability to perform batch coding. We used manually coded job histories from the AsiaLymph case-control study that were translated into English prior to auto-coding to assess their performance. We applied two general population JEMs to assess agreement at exposure level. Percent agreement and PABAK (Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa) were used to compare the agreement of results from manual coders and automatic coding tools.

resultsThe coding per cent agreement among the three tools ranged from 17.7 to 26.0% for exact matches at the most detailed 4-digit ISCO-88 level. The agreement was better at a more general level of job coding (e.g. 43.8-58.1% in 1-digit ISCO-88), and in exposure assignments (median values of PABAK coefficient ranging 0.69-0.78 across 12 JEM-assigned exposures). Based on our testing data, CASCOT was found to outperform others in terms of better agreement in both job coding (26% 4-digit agreement) and exposure assignment (median kappa 0.61).

conclusionsIn this study, we observed that agreement on job coding was generally low for the three tools but noted a higher degree of agreement in assigned exposures. The results indicate the need for study-specific evaluations prior to their automatic use in general population studies, as well as improvements in the evaluated automatic coding tools.

Indexed as

Job DescriptionOccupational ExposureCase-Control StudiesHumansOccupationsSurveys and Questionnairesautomatic job coding toolfree-text job descriptiongeneral population studiesreliability

Identifiers

PMID36734402
PMCPMC10243927

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.