What are the consequences of relying upon self-reports of sexually transmitted diseases? Lessons learned about recanting in a longitudinal study.
OBJECTIVE
Self-reports are the standard measure of STD history used in survey research. We explored to what extent self-reports of ever having an STD are recanted in a follow-up data collection.


METHODS
Using the National Survey of Adolescent Males (NSAM), we assessed consistency over time in self-reports of ever having an STD in a sample of young men transitioning from adolescence to young adulthood (aged 15-26 years), a population in which STDs are particularly prevalent.


RESULTS
Approximately 7% of all sexually experienced young men rescinded STD self-reports over time. Thus, self-reports at one point in time likely underestimate true STD history, using earlier self-reports as the criterion. Among men who ever report an STD, 94-98% recant their reports in later waves.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge of the extent of underreporting can potentially be used to adjust cross-sectional estimates of STDs based on survey self-reports. These study findings move us one step closer to estimating just how much underreporting of STDs in self-reports is.
Dariotis
Jacinda K
JK
Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. jdarioti@jhsph.edu
Pleck
Joseph H
JH
Sonenstein
Freya L
FL
Astone
Nan M
NM
Sifakis
Frangiscos
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D055815:Young Adult