title: Accuracy and reliability of maternal recall of infant birth weight among older women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We assessed the accuracy and reliability of maternal recall of infant birth weight 35 to 70 years after delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 120 well functioning women (mean age 80 years; 45% Black) reported the birth weight for each live birth and then provided documentation of birth weights (n = 22) or reported birth weights a second time (n = 98).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Agreement between recalled and documented birth weights was high for first births (ICC = 0.96) but moderate for subsequent births (ICC = 0.59). Maternal recall was highly reliable for first births (r = 0.95) and subsequent births (r = 0.87), and reliability remained high when considered separately by race, education, income, and age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Women report accurate and reliable infant birth-weight data an average of 57 years after delivery, and recall is particularly precise for first births.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. jmcst43@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Janet M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Catov
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Sheryl F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Kelsey
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Kim C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Sutton-Tyrrell
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Hilsa N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Ayonayon
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tylavsky
authors.forename: Roberta B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ness
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results