HOW VALID ARE MAMMOGRAPHY SELF-REPORTS

We compared mammography reports in medical records to self-reports obtained during a 1989 telephone interview survey for a sample of 100 women members of a health maintenance organization (HMO) who indicated they had mammograms within the past year and 100 who said they had not had mammograms within the past year. Of the women reporting they had not had mammograms within the past year, none had mammogram reports in the HMO data center. Of the 100 women reporting they had mammograms within the past year, 94 had confirmatory radiology records.