Ruth Bland
Maternal recall of exclusive breast feeding duration
pattern duration breast feeding important determinants health outcomes vertical hiv transmission research reliable documentation early breast feeding practices important order correctly attribute postnatal transmission feeding patternto validate methods collecting data duration exclusive breast feeding ebf area south africa high hiv prevalence ratea total 130 mothers interviewed weekly postnatally every interview 48 hour seven day recall breast feeding history taken subset 70 mothers also received two intermediate visits per week additional 48 hour nonoverlapping recall interviews conducted ninety three infants revisited 69 months age mothers recall ebf duration birth documented different methods recalling ebf status compared priori best comparison casereported breast feeding practices previous 48 hours reflect ebf practices since birth specificity 6589 positive predictive value 3148 six month ebf duration recall equally poor sensitivity 2 weeks 79 specificity 40 seven day recall accurately reflected ebf practices compared thrice weekly recall time period sensitivity 96 specificity 9448 hour ebf status accurately reflect feeding practices since birth long term recall data ebf even inaccurate recommend data duration ebf collected prospectively intervals longer one week