Smoke or fog? The usefulness of retrospectively reported information about smoking

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the reliability and validity of retrospectively reported information on smoking.

Design: Nationally representative retrospective data from longitudinal surveys and contemporaneous data from repeated cross-sectional surveys were used.

Participants: Adult respondents to three of the four samples of the National Longitudinal Surveys Original Cohort 1966-68; the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979; and various waves of the US National Health Interview Survey.

Measurements: Reliability was investigated by calculating kappa statistics for repeated measures of ever-smoking and annual-smoking status. Validity was investigated by comparing smoking prevalence rates generated by retrospective data with contemporaneously measured rates.

Findings: Kappa statistics indicated the repeated measures of ever-smoking status show substantial agreement; repeated measures of annual-smoking status show moderate agreement. Retrospective reports on smoking behavior produced prevalence rates that match reasonably well with those from contemporaneous reports of smoking behavior.

Conclusions: Retrospective data on smoking can be an important resource for tobacco addiction research.