PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Monica Machón AU - Larraitz Arriola AU - Nerea Larrañaga AU - Pilar Amiano AU - Concepción Moreno-Iribas AU - Antonio Agudo AU - Eva Ardanaz AU - Aurelio Barricarte AU - Genevieve Buckland AU - MªDolores Chirlaque AU - Diana Gavrila AU - José María Huerta AU - Carmen Martínez AU - Esther Molina AU - Carmen Navarro AU - José Ramón Quiros AU - Laudina Rodríguez AU - María José Sanchez AU - Carlos Alberto González AU - Miren Dorronsoro TI - Validity of self-reported prevalent cases of stroke and acute myocardial infarction in the Spanish cohort of the EPIC study AID - 10.1136/jech-2011-200104 DP - 2013 Jan 01 TA - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health PG - 71--75 VI - 67 IP - 1 4099 - http://jech.bmj.com/content/67/1/71.short 4100 - http://jech.bmj.com/content/67/1/71.full SO - J Epidemiol Community Health2013 Jan 01; 67 AB - Background Information on the validity of self-reported cases of stroke and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is varied. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and agreement of self-reported prevalent cases of stroke and AMI in the Spanish cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods At recruitment, 1992–1996, and in the follow-up (3 years after recruitment), each participant in the Spanish EPIC cohort (15 630 men and 25 808 women) was asked if a doctor had ever said that they had had a stroke or AMI, and the results were compared with information available in medical records. Validity of self-reported prevalent cases of stroke and AMI was examined by calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values and κ statistics. Results The sensitivity of self-reported prevalent cases of stroke was 81.3% and that for AMI was 97.7%. The positive predictive value was 22.2% and 60.7% for stroke and AMI, respectively, whereas specificity was very high (>99%) for both diseases. The agreement between self-report questionnaire results and medical records was substantial (κ=0.75) for AMI but not for stroke (κ=0.35). Conclusion Self-reported information on stroke and AMI included in the EPIC questionnaire is a valid instrument for the assessment of AMI disease but should be used with caution in stroke.