title: Recall bias in disease status associated with perceived exposure to hazardous substances.
abstract: Recall bias was assessed in a study of cancers reported by persons living in a community with a hazardous waste treatment facility (A) and a control community (B). The self-reported cancers were verified against medical records and pathology reports. Of the 56 cancer cases reported, 43 were in community A and 13 were in community B. The difference in incorrect reporting of neoplasms between community A and community B was 12% for neoplasms and 23% for malignancies. Before verification, there was a borderline significant association (P = 0.049) between living in community A and all self-reported cancers [odds ratio (OR) 1.88, 95% confidence interval 0.99-3.57]. The verified data showed that ORs decreased with the increasing precision of diagnosis. The effect of misclassification on the OR was an inflation by 15% for neoplasms and by 31% for malignancies. The results demonstrate the importance of verifying reported cases of disease, even a disease as well defined as cancer.
authors.affiliation: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333.
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Kaye
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lybarger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015982:Bias; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste