Validity and reliability of respondents recall of fractures

The validity and reliability of patient recall of diseases depends on the k ind of disease. The validity and reliability of patients' recall of fractur es was assessed among the 146 cases of a nested case-control study on indep endent living following fractures in the elderly. On declaration of a fract ure a letter was sent to the general practitioner requesting medical inform ation on the latest fracture receiving treatment. A total of 99 medical dis charge letters (68%) could be collected for further evaluation. The informa tion on fracture localisation which was obtained both during the patients i nterviews 1994/95 and 1998 and through the medical discharge letters were c oded with reference to the AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefragen) -classification and compared. The Kappa-statistic for the reliability of pa tient information was 0.80-0.89, and 0.77-0.89 for the validity depending o n the degree of specified concordance. Obtaining information on fractures f rom patients appears as a Valid and reliable source of epidemiologic data. Patients who generally are affected physically or had to stay in a hospital due to a fracture or its treatment seem to have a good recall of this even t. It appears that it can be remembered years after the event wish sufficie nt reliability and validity.