Validity of self-reported mammography in a multicultural population in Israel.
OBJECTIVE
To validate self-reported mammography against claims records in women aged 52-74 living in Israel and belonging to the Jewish (non-orthodox pre-1989 native or former Soviet Union immigrant or ultra-orthodox) or Arab populations.


METHODS
In a spring 2007 random telephone survey, 1550 women receiving healthcare at Maccabi Health Services were asked whether they had had a mammography during the previous 2 years. The same information was obtained from claims records and treated as the gold standard.


RESULTS
Self-reported mammography and claims records disagreed for 17.4%. Compared to the other populations, Arab women tended to report more often that they had obtained a mammogram when it was not registered in the claims data (specificity=47.3%, 95% CI%=38.4, 56.3). Ultra-orthodox women more often failed to report having had the mammogram while the claims records indicated they had had (sensitivity=90.3%, 95% CI%=86.1, 93.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Agreement between self-reported mammography and claims records depends on cultural and socioeconomic factors.
Baron-Epel
Orna
O
School of Public Health, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Mount Carmel 31905, Israel. ornaepel@research.haifa.ac.il
Friedman
Nurit
N
Lernau
Omri
O
D000368:Aged; D018912:Arabs; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D003469:Culture; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires