Comparison of 7-day and repeated 24-hour recall of symptoms of cystic fibrosis

Background Patient reporting of symptoms in a questionnaire with a 7-day recall period is expected to differ from reporting in daily symptom diaries Methods 38 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) completed 77 week-long symptom diaries Each diary day comprised 13 symptom items with 5 point response., scales Days 1-6 of the diary had a 24-hour recall period Day 7 had a 7-day recall period Concordance of 7-day recall with summary des riptors of daily reports (e g mean maximum) was examined and ability of 7-day recall and mean of daily reports to discriminate between well and ill periods of health compared Results The average difference in scores was less than 0 25 response scale points 7-day recall was most concordant with the mean of daily reports Discriminant ability was comparable Conclusions In this study sample a questionnaire with 7-day recall provided information similar to a daily diary about the week long experience of CF symptoms (C) 2010 European Cystic Fibrosis Society Published by Elsevier B V All rights reserved