title: Validity of chronic drug exposure presumed from repeated patient interviews varied according to drug class.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the validity of chronic drug exposure presumed from cross-sectional interviews taking reimbursement data as reference.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study concerned 2,985 elderly persons of the French Three-City cohort (1) who were interviewed on current drug use 2 and 4 years after inclusion and (2) whose reimbursement data were obtained from the main health care insurance system. Validity (sensitivity, Se; specificity, Sp; positive predictive value, PPV; negative predictive value, NPV) of chronic exposure presumed from follow-up interviews was investigated taking two exposure definitions from reimbursements as reference for the period between interviews: at least 80% coverage with and without a maximal time between reimbursements of 60 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using 80% coverage as reference, validity of interview data was substantial for cardiovascular and antithrombotic drugs (Se, 85.3-95.4%; Sp, 67.1-97.6%; PPV, 65.9-86.6%; NPV, 93.3-99.3%). For benzodiazepines, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or analgesics, validity was low especially owing to PPVs (15.8-51.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using reported use at cross-sectional interviews as a proxy for chronic exposure between interviews was valid for drugs used regularly but not so for drugs used more irregularly.
authors: Univ. de Bordeaux, U657, F-33000 Bordeaux, France. pernelle.noize@u-bordeaux2.fr
authors: Pernelle
authors: P
authors: Noize
authors: Fabienne
authors: F
authors: Bazin
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Pariente
authors: Carole
authors: C
authors: Dufouil
authors: Marie-Laure
authors: ML
authors: Ancelin
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Helmer
authors: Nicholas
authors: N
authors: Moore
authors: Annie
authors: A
authors: Fourrier-Réglat
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000145:classification; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations