Validity of recall of tobacco use in two prospective cohorts.
This project studied the convergent validity of current recall of tobacco-related health behaviors, compared with prospective self-report collected earlier at two sites. Cohorts were from the Oregon Research Institute at Eugene (N = 346, collected 19.5 years earlier) and the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (N = 294, collected 3.9 years earlier). Current recall was examined through computer-assisted interviews with the Lifetime Tobacco Use Questionnaire from 2005 through 2008. Convergent validity estimates demonstrated variability. Validity estimates of some tobacco use measures were significant for Oregon subjects (age at first cigarette, number of cigarettes/day, quit attempts yes/no and number of attempts, and abstinence symptoms at quitting; all P < 0.03). Validity estimates of Pittsburgh subjects' self-reports of tobacco use and abstinence symptoms were significant (P < 0.001) for all tobacco use and abstinence symptoms and for responses to initial use of tobacco. These findings support the utility of collecting recalled self-report information for reconstructing salient lifetime health behaviors and underscore the need for careful interpretation.
Brigham
Janet
J
Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. janet.brigham@sri.com
Lessov-Schlaggar
Christina N
CN
Javitz
Harold S
HS
Krasnow
Ruth E
RE
Tildesley
Elizabeth
E
Andrews
Judy
J
Hops
Hyman
H
Cornelius
Marie D
MD
Day
Nancy L
NL
McElroy
Mary
M
Swan
Gary E
GE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009922:Oregon / Q000453:epidemiology; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult