Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 49, Issue 12 , Pages 1407-1417 , December 1996

Self-reports and general practitioner information on the presence of chronic diseases in community dwelling elderly: A study on the accuracy of patients' self-reports and on determinants of inaccuracy

  • Didi M.W. Kriegsman

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for correspondence: Didi M. W. Kriegsman, EMGO Institute, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • The Department of General Practice, Nursing Home Medicine, and Social Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Brenda W.J.H. Penninx

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Jacques Th.M. Van Eijk

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • The Department of General Practice, Nursing Home Medicine, and Social Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • A.Joan P. Boeke

      Affiliations

    • Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • The Department of General Practice, Nursing Home Medicine, and Social Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • ,
  • Dorly J.H. Deeg

      Affiliations

    • The Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • The Department of Sociology and Social Gerontology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands

,Accepted 5 June 1996.

References 

  1. Harlow SD, Linet MS. Agreement between questionnaire data and medical records. The evidence for accuracy of recall. Am J Epidemiol. 1989;129:233–248
  2. Kars-Marshall C, Spronk-Boon YW, Pollemans MC. National health interview surveys for health care policy. Soc Sci Med. 1988;26:223–233
  3. Sherbourne CD, Meredith LS. Quality of self-report data: A comparison of older and younger chronically ill patients. J Gerontol. 1992;47:S204–S211
  4. Gordis L. Assuring the quality of questionnaire data in epidemiologic research. Am J Epidemiol. 1979;109:21–24
  5. Feinstein AR, Horwitz RI. Double standards, scientific methods, and epidemiologic research. N Engl J Med. 1982;307:1611–1617
  6. Paganini-Hill A, Ross RK. Reliability of recall of drug usage and other health-related information. Am J Epidemiol. 1982;116:114–122
  7. Tretli S, Lund-Larsen PG, Foss OP. Reliability of questionnaire information on cardiovascular disease and diabetes: Cardiovascular disease study in Finnmark county. J Epidemiol Comm Health. 1982;36:269–273
  8. Horwitz RI. Comparison of epidemiologic data from multiple sources. J Chron Dis. 1986;39:889–896
  9. van den Bos GAM. In: 2nd ed.. Care for the chronically ill. (in Dutch: Zorgen van en voor chronisch zieken), Amsterdam: Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema; 1989;
  10. Lagaay AM, van der Meij JC, Hijmans W. A validation of medical history taking as part of a population-based survey in the oldest old, aged 85 and over. In:  Lagaay AM editors. The Leiden 85-plus study. A population- based comprehensive investigation of the oldest old. 1991; Leiden
  11. Midthjell K, Holmen J, Bjørndal A, Lund-Larsen PG. Is questionnaire information valid in the study of a chronic disease such as diabetes? The Nord-Trøndelag diabetes study. J Epidemiol Comm Health. 1992;46:537–542
  12. Kehoe R, Wu S-Y, Leske MC, Chylack LT. Comparing self-reported and physician-reported medical history. Am J Epidemiol. 1994;139:813–818
  13. Schrijvers CTM, Stronks K, van de Mheen DH, Coebergh JWW, Mackenbach JP. Validation of cancer prevalence data from a postal survey by comparison with cancer registry records. Am J Epidemiol. 1994;139:408–414
  14. Hughes SL, Edelman P, Naughton B, et al.  Estimates and determinants of valid self-reports of musculoskeletal disease in the elderly. J Aging Health. 1993;5:244–263
  15. Rodgers WL, Herzog AR. Interviewing older adults: the accuracy of factual information. J Gerontol. 1987;42:387–394
  16. Herzog AR, Dielman L. Age differences in response accuracy for factual survey questions. J Gerontol. 1985;40:350–357
  17. Davis PB, Robins LN. History-taking in the elderly with and without cognitive impairment. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1989;37:249–255
  18. Bradburn NM, Rips LJ, Shevell SK. Answering autobiographical questions: the impact of memory and inference on surveys. Science. 1987;236:157–161
  19. In:  Deeg DJH,  Knipscheer CPM,  van Tilburg W editor. Autonomy and wellbeing in the aging population. Concepts and design of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Bunnik: Netherlands Institute for Gerontology; 1993;
  20. Broese van Groenou MI, van Tilburg TG, de Leeuw ED, Liefbroer AC. Data collection. In:  Knipscheer CPM,  de Jong-Gierveld J,  van Tilburg TG,  Dykstra PA editor. Living arrangements and social networks of older adults. First results. Amsterdam: VU University Press; 1995;
  21. Smit JH, de Vries MZ. Procedures and results of the field work. In: 2nd ed..  Deeg DJH,  Westendorp-de Serrière M editor. Autonomy and well-being in the aging population. I. Report from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam 1992–1993. Amsterdam: VU University Press; 1994;
  22. den Dulk CJ, van de Stadt H, Vliegen JM. A new measure for degree of urbanisation: The address density of the surrounding area (in Dutch: Een nieuwe maatstaf voor stedelijkheid: De omgevingsadressendich- theid), Maandstatistiek Bevolking. 1992;40(7):14–27
  23. Beekman ATF, van Limbeck J, Deeg DJH, Wouters L, van Tilburg W. Screening for depression in the elderly in the community: Using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) in the Netherlands. [in Dutch: Een screeningsinstrument voor depressie bij ouderen in de algemene bevolking: de bruikbaarheid van de Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D)]. Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatrie. 1994;25:95–103
  24. Radloff LS. The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Measurement. 1977;1:385–401
  25. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR. Mini-Mental State, a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res. 1975;12:189–198
  26. Tombaugh TN, McIntyre NJ. The Mini-Mental State Examination: A comprehensive review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1992;40:922–935
  27. Wind AW. Diagnosing dementia in general practice. 1994; Enschede: Copy-Print 2000
  28. Deeg DJH, Kriegsman DMW, van Zonneveld RJ. Prevalence of four chronic conditions and their association with health limitations in older persons in The Netherlands, 1956–1993 (In Dutch: Prevalentie van vier chronische ziekten en hun samenhang met gezondheidsbeperkingen bij ouderen in Nederland, 1956–1993), Tijdschr Soc Gezondheidsz. 1994;72:434–441
  29. Cohen J. A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Measurement. 1960;20:37–46
  30. Maclure M, Willett WC. Misinterpretation and misuse of the Kappa statistic. Am J Epidemiol. 1987;126:161–169
  31. Coulter A, Brown S, Daniels A. Computer held chronic disease registers in general practice: A validation study. J Epidemiol Comm Health. 1989;43:25–28
  32. Mant D, Tulloch A. Completeness of chronic disease registration in general practice. Br Med J. 1987;294:223–224
  33. Classification Committee of WONCA. International Classification of Health Problems in Primary Care (ICHPPC)-2-Defined. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1983;
  34. Schellevis FG, van de Lisdonk E, van der Velden J, van Eijk JThM, van Weel C. Validity of diagnoses of chronic diseases in general practice. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993;46:461–468
  35. Knipschild P. Looking for gall bladder disease in the patient's iris. Br Med J. 1988;297:1578–1581
  36. Marquis KH. Inferring health interview response bias from imperfect record checks. In: Proceedings of the 1978 American Statistical Association Meeting. Washington DC: American Statistical Association; 1978;
  37. Landis JR, Koch GG. The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics. 1977;33:159–174
  38. Paganini-Hill A, Chao A. Accuracy of recall of hip fracture, heart attack, and cancer: A comparison of postal survey data and medical records. Am J Epidemiol. 1993;138:101–106
  39. Bush TL, Miller SR, Golden AL, Hale WE. Self-report and medical record report agreement of selected medical conditions in the elderly. Am J Publ Health. 1989;79:1554–1556
  40. Colditz GA, Martin P, Stampfer MJ, et al.  Validation of questionnaire information on risk factors and disease outcomes in a prospective cohort study of women. Am J Epidemiol. 1986;123:894–900
  41. Corney RH. Sex differences in general practice attendance and help seeking for minor illness. J Psychosom Res. 1990;34:525–534
  42. Pot AM. Caregivers' perspectives: A longitudinal study on the psychological distress of informal caregivers of demented elderly. 1996; Enschede: CopyPrint 2000
  43. Metter EJ, Metter EL, Costa PT, Brant LJ, Zonderman A, Fozard JL. Response stability and reliability in longitudinal health evaluations. Aging Clin Exp Res. 1992;4:43–52

 The present study was performed within the context of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), which is largely funded by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports of the Dutch Government.

PII: S0895-4356(96)00274-0

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
Volume 49, Issue 12 , Pages 1407-1417 , December 1996