Development of a questionnaire in Spanish on neurotoxic symptoms

A questionnaire in Spanish (with yes/no answers) was developed in order to study effects of neurotoxic agents in groups of workers in Nicaragua. Since many workers in Latin America are illiterate, the questions were read to the subjects. The questionnaire initially contained 34 questions, which were reduced to 16 after studying whether the questions were interpreted in the intended way by the subjects, whether the answers were reasonably reproducible over a 3-week period, and whether the questions discriminated between groups exposed to different neurotoxic agents (mercury, lead, organic solvents, and organophosphate insecticides) and nonexposed groups. In total, 851 male workers in Nicaragua and Venezuela participated in the evaluation. The questionnaire is submitted for use in the monitoring of groups exposed to neurotoxic agents, particularly in Latin America. The authors welcome further evaluation.