Accuracy of health examination results self-reported by Japanese participants

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the accuracy of self-reported health examination results by participants regarding their most recent public health examination by comparing their answers to the medical records in order to determine individual factors related to self-reporting accuracy. METHODS: The study was conducted at Settsu City in Osaka prefecture, Japan, in 1998 with 3570 participants who underwent general health examinations conducted by the municipal government. All participants were interviewed regarding their lifestyle as well as health guidance given at their previous examination, after which their answers were compared with the data from their medical records. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for providing accurate self-reporting was calculated by multivariate logistic analyses. RESULTS: The frequency of accurate self-reporting was 49.4% and the overall Kappa value was 0.34. The OR for accurate self-reporting was lowest for those who have a poor lifestyle compared with those who had a good lifestyle. CONCLUSION: The accuracy of self-reported health examination results was poor. We concluded that information based on self-reported results of a health examination must be considered carefully. Further, lifestyle was found to be associated with the ability to accurately recall. Thus, methods for providing guidance to individuals with a poor life style must be carefully examined.