Accuracy of self-reported stroke among elderly veterans

The objective was to use secondary analysis of prevalence data from a prosp ective cohort study to ascertain the accuracy of self-reported stroke among veterans. The study comprised a community-dwelling population of 88 elderl y veterans (from five counties in the Northern Piedmont of North Carolina, USA) who received health care at the local Veterans Health Administration ( VHA) medical center and were respondents at the North Carolina site of the NIH-funded Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) project. Self-report of stroke from the baseline interview of the EPESE project; and occurrence of stroke as verified by the national VHA hos pital discharge database and the patients' medical records was measured. Re sults showed that self-report of stroke had a sensitivity of 86% and a spec ificity of 100%; the predictive value of a positive report was 100%. Vetera ns' self-reports of stroke are sufficiently accurate to use in preliminary epidemiological studies and health services research of cerebrovascular dis ease.