We compared data from interviews of patients admitted to hospital and interviews repeated at home for 400 hospital controls. Of these, 294 (73.5%) could be re-interviewed (responders). Never smoking was reported by 44% of subjects in the in-hospital interviews and by 40% in the repeat at-home interviews. Among those interviewed in hospital, 38% claimed to be nondrinkers, as did 38% of responders, but only 28% characterized themselves as nondrinkers in the repeat interview. For consumption of regular coffee, 15% reported none in the selected sample, 14% among responders, but only 6% in the repeat at-home interview. Agreement was good for decaffeinated coffee and tea consumption.