title: Reliability and validity of the aggregate method of determining number of cigarettes smoked per day.
abstract: The authors evaluated the reliability of two pretreatment assessments (screening and intake) of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) by the commonly used aggregate method. The validity of the aggregate method was also determined by comparison with results of the timeline followback (TLFB) method for the identical periods. The study participants were 49 outpatients undergoing nicotine patch treatment. The reliability of the two aggregate method evaluations of CPD was quite high by Pearson product-moment correlation (r) and good when based on the intraclass correlation. Correspondence between the CPD assessments based on the aggregate and TLFB methods for the two time-points ranged from fair (screening) to good (intake). Overall, the study findings indicate that the aggregate method provides reasonably consistent data.
authors.affiliation: Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center/University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Gariti
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Alterman
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Ehrman
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Pettinati
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012907:Smoking; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires