MEPS household survey respondents tend to report some medical
conditions more accurately than others Household reports on
medical conditions of household members, derived from the
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) of the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), tend to be more accurate
for certain types of conditions than others, concludes a study
by AHRQ researchers. The MEPS is a national annual survey of
approximately 15,000 households and a sample of the medical
providers from whom they receive care. Steven Machlin, M.S., and
colleagues recently analyzed MEPS data from 2002 to 2005 to
determine the sensitivity and accuracy of household reporting of
medical conditions. The analysis is based on household-reported
condition information matched to provider-reported condition
information classified into 1 or more of 23 broad condition
categories. Overall, household reports were more accurate for
conditions that were highly salient, caused pain, required
hospitalization and/or ongoing treatment,