Validity of self-report in XXXX research: results of a Veterans Administration Cooperative Study.

@entity1 @entity988 @entity1068 @entity9853
The validity of self-report in @entity988 treatment research is controversial. Our recently completed Veterans Administration Cooperative Study evaluating the efficacy of @entity9853 treatment for @entity988 provided an opportunity to assess the validity of self-report. To assess treatment response, @entity1 and household contacts were interviewed at seven scheduled points during the 1 year of follow-up. Blood specimens also were obtained from the @entity1 at these times and were analyzed for @entity1068 . Eighty-eight percent of the @entity1 and/or collateral interviews were obtained at 6 months and 90% at 1 year. The mean number of blood and urine specimens collected per @entity1 was 4.3 and 14.4, respectively. Outcome criteria included continuous abstinence during the year and total number of drinking days. Continuous abstinence: If we had had only the @entity1 ' self reports, we would have significantly underestimated the percentage of @entity1 who drank. By self-report 58.7% (355/605) relapsed whereas the combination of self report, collaterals' reports, and laboratory tests indicated that 72.4% (438/605) drank (p less than 0.001). Using Bayes' theorem, the conditional probability that a @entity1 is continuously abstinent for 1 year when he so claims is 65%. Total drinking days: Of the 213 @entity1 -collateral pairs each of whom provided all seven scheduled interviews, 46.9% (100/213) agreed on the total number of drinking days during the year.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
