Self-reported information and pharmacy claims were comparable for lipid-lowering medication exposure

To examine agreement between self-reported exposure to lipid-lowering medications and objective evidence of filling prescribed lipid-lowering medications.

Using data from 7,918 adults from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, we calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive (PV+) and negative (PV-) predictive values, and likelihood ratios for self-reported exposure to lipid-lowering medications compared to exposure obtained from pharmacy claims (gold standard) both overall and by age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and ACE Score.

Eight percent (n=655) of adults self-reported lipid-lowering medication exposure, and 379 adults filled at least one lipid-lowering prescription within 60 days of the baseline exam during 1997. The sensitivity of self-reported exposure was nearly 94%; the specificity was 96%; the PV+ was 54%; and the PV- was nearly 100%. Values for sensitivity, specificity, PV+, and PV- were similar across participant characteristics.

A self-reported measure of lipid-lowering medication exposure was accurate with high sensitivity and specificity while the PV+ of self-reported lipid-lowering medication exposure was relatively low. These findings suggest that self-reported exposure to lipid-lowering medications may be useful in surveys that examine the prevalence of hyperlipidemia, but may overestimate actual exposure in studies monitoring trends in use of lipid-lowering medications.