@article{df756a5ea25b4ec6a0a5a57ffba5f1bf,
title = "Validation of questionnaire information on risk factors and disease outcomes in a prospective cohort study of women",
abstract = "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.",
keywords = "Diagnosis, Follow-up studies, Medical records, Questionnaires",
author = "Colditz, {Graham A.} and Pauline Martin and Stampfer, {Meir J.} and Willett, {Walter C.} and Laura Sampson and Bernard Rosner and Hennekens, {Charles H.} and Speizer, {Frank E.}",
note = "Funding Information: Received for publication September 17, 1985, and in final form October 23, 1985. 1Charming Laboratory, Departments of Medicine and Preventive Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. 2Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Reprint requests to Dr. Graham A. Colditz, Chan-ning Laboratory, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA. 02115. Supported by research grants HL 24074, HL34594, CA 16686, CA 23645, and CA 26560. Dr. Walter C. Willett is the recipient of a Research Career Development Award HL 01018. The authors thank the registered nurses who participated in the study, and the American Nurses' Association, and also gratefully acknowledge the help of David Dysert, Meryl Dannenberg, Barbara Egan, Marion Coates, and Susan Newman.",
year = "1986",
month = may,
doi = "10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a114319",
language = "English",
volume = "123",
pages = "894--900",
journal = "American journal of epidemiology",
issn = "0002-9262",
number = "5",
}