Premium
Recall bias across 7 days in self‐reported alcohol consumption prior to injury among emergency department patients
Author(s) -
Cherpitel Cheryl J.,
Ye Yu,
Stockwell Tim,
Vallance Kate,
Chow Clifton
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.12558
Subject(s) - recall , emergency department , medicine , recall bias , alcohol consumption , crossover study , odds ratio , odds , demography , psychology , psychiatry , alcohol , logistic regression , alternative medicine , biochemistry , chemistry , pathology , sociology , cognitive psychology , placebo
and Aims Recall bias is a concern in self‐reported alcohol consumption, potentially accounting for varying risk estimates for injury in emergency department (ED) studies. The likelihood of reporting drinking for the same 6‐h period each day of the week for a full week preceding the injury event is analysed among injured ED patients. Design and Methods Probability samples of patients 18 years old and older were interviewed in two ED sites in Vancouver and one in Victoria, BC (n = 1191). Generalized estimating equation modelling was used to predict the likelihood of reporting drinking for the same 6‐h period prior to the injury event for each day of the week, compared to day 7 as the reference recall day, for a full week preceding the event. Recall by frequency of drinking and frequency of heavy drinking was analysed. Results Drinking was significantly more likely to be reported for each of the first 3 days of recall compared to 7‐day recall and highest for 1‐day recall (odds ration 1.55; = 0.002). Patients who reported ≥ weekly drinking and 5+ drinking < monthly were significantly more likely to report drinking for each of the first 3 days of recall (compared to 7‐day recall). Discussion Findings suggest the first 3 days prior to injury may be a less biased multiple‐matched control period than longer periods of recall in case‐crossover studies. Conclusion Length of accurate recall may be important to consider in case‐crossover analysis and other study designs that rely on patient self‐report such as the Timeline Followback. [Cherpitel CJ, Ye Y, Stockwell T, Vallance K, Chow C. Recall bias across 7 days in self‐reported alcohol consumption prior to injury among emergency department patients.