title: Are there really shortcuts? Estimating seat belt use with self-report measures.
abstract: We examined the utility of estimating rates of automobile seat belt use with self-report measures. Self-report measures overestimate belt use rates compared to observational surveys of the same population. Laws mandating seat belt use did not substantially affect the degree to which self-reports are upwardly biased. We found self-report measures overestimate observed belt use by 8.9 to 19.4 percentage points or by a factor of 1.2 to 2. Our best estimate is that self-reported seat belt use rates be discounted by 12 percentage points to estimate actual belt use rates.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor 48109-2150.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Streff
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wagenaar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006801:Humans; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D012622:Seat Belts