VALIDITY OF SELF-REPORTED DIAGNOSES LEADING TO HOSPITALIZATION - A COMPARISON OF SELF-REPORTS WITH HOSPITAL RECORDS IN A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF AMERICAN ADULTS

The authors compared interview reports with hospitalization records of participants in a nationally representative survey to determine the a ccuracy of self-reports of ischemic heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, ulcers, cataract, hip fracture, colon polyps, and cancers of the colon, breast, prostate, and lung. The study cohort consisted of 10,523 participants from the First National Health and Nutrition Exami nation Survey in 1971-1975 who were aged 25-74 years at the baseline e xamination and who completed a follow-up interview in 1982-1984, Self- reports of hospitalization for breast cancer were confirmed as accurat e for 100% of cases where a hospital record was available. Self-report accuracy was also high for ischemic heart disease (84%), cataract (83 %), and hip fracture (81%); it was moderate for lung cancer (78%), pro state cancer (75%), gallbladder disease (74%), colon cancer (71%), and stroke (67%); but it was low for ulcers (54%) and colon polyps (32%). Some of the self-reports of ulcers (20%), hip fracture (9%), ischemic heart disease (7%), and stroke (7%) were found to reflect diagnoses o f other conditions of anatomic proximity. Accuracy of self-reports imp roved with higher levels of education, but was not generally related t o age, gender, race, alcohol use, or smoking. The results suggest that self-reports of some diseases can be taken as accurate, but self-repo rts of other conditions might require medical record verification in e pidemiologic follow-up studies.