Errors in reporting cancer and other conditions by persons in a prospective study

The hospital records of 553 men were compared with their medical histories obtained by interviews after hospitalization. Forty men had documentation of cancer in their hospital records stated that they had the specific condition. However, 21 other cancer patients did not give a positive history of their documented disease and 4 who stated that they had a malignancy did not have cancer according to their hospital records. In contrast to cancer, respondents overreported surgery for peptic ulcer and colorectal polypectomy. The greatest extent of agreement between the hospital record and the medical interview was noted for surgical patients with gallbladder disease; all 43 of these patients gave a positive history for this condition.