VALIDATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE INFORMATION ON RISK FACTORS AND DISEASE OUTCOMES IN A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY OF WOMEN

作者：Graham A. Colditz, Pauline Martin, Meir J. Stampfer, Walter Churchill Willett, Laura Sampson, BERNARD A. ROSNER, Charles H. Hennekens, Frank E. Speizer · 发表于：American Journal of Epidemiology · 年份：1986 · DOI：10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114319 · 被引用次数：998 · 研究领域：Global Cancer Incidence and Screening、Cancer Risks and Factors

To assess the validity of self-reported illnesses, medical records were reviewed for participants reporting major illnesses on the biennial follow-up questionnaires used in a prospective cohort study which began in 1976. In over 90% of cases of cancer of the breast, skin, large bowel, and thyroid, histopathology reports confirmed the subjects' self-report. Lower levels of confirmation were obtained for cancers of the lung, ovary, and uterus. Application of strict diagnostic criteria also gave lower levels of confirmation for myocardial infarction (68%) and stroke (66%). Among random samples of women reporting fractures and hypertension all records obtained confirmed self-reports. For self-reported elevated cholesterol levels 85.7% of self-reports were confirmed. Self-report is a valuable epidemiologic tool but may require additional documentation when the disease is diagnostically complex.