Besa Smith|Laura Chu|Tyler C. Smith|Paul J. Amoroso|Edward J. Boyko|Tomoko I. Hooper|Gary D. Gackstetter|Margaret A. K. Ryan
Challenges of self-reported medical conditions and electronic medical records among members of a large military cohort
Naval Health Research Center|Naval Health Research Center|Naval Health Research Center|Madigan Army Medical Center|VA Puget Sound Health Care System|Analytical Services|Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences|Naval Health Research Center
selfreported medical history data frequently used epidemiological studies selfreported diagnoses may differ medical record diagnoses due poor patientclinician communication selfdiagnosis absence satisfactory explanation symptoms health literacy patient us department defense military health system offers unique opportunity evaluate electronic medical records near complete ascertainment active duty study compared 38 selfreported medical conditions electronic medical record data large populationbased us military cohort objective study better understand challenges strengths selfreporting medical conditions using positive negative agreement statistics lessprevalent conditions nearperfect negative agreement moderate positive agreement found 38 diagnoses report highlights challenges using selfreported medical data electronic medical records data illustrates agreement two data sources increases increased surveillance period medical records selfreported medical data may sufficient ruling history particular condition whereas prevalence studies may best served using objective measure medical conditions found electronic healthcare records defining medical conditions multiple sources large longterm prospective cohorts reinforce value study particularly initial years prevalence many conditions may still low