RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Validity of Self-Reported Comorbidities in Systemic Sclerosis
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP jrheum.081134
DO 10.3899/jrheum.081134
A1 Marie Hudson
A1 Anish Sharma
A1 Jessica Bernstein
A1 Murray Baron
YR 2009
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/05/27/jrheum.081134.abstract
AB Objective To assess the validity of self-reports by patients with sytemic sclerosis (SSc) of 5 common, chronic conditions (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, depression, and osteoarthritis/back pain) as compared to chart review. Methods SSc patients at a large referral hospital self-reported on a number of comorbidities. Their inpatient and outpatient medical records were abstracted using a standardized data extraction form. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of the self-reported diagnoses were calculated using data from the chart review as gold standard. Results Self-reported comorbidity data were verified by chart review for 130 patients with SSc. The sensitivity of the self-reports for the 5 comorbid conditions was low [range 35% (cancer) to 86% (diabetes)]. The specificity was moderate to high [range 76% (osteoarthritis/back pain) to 99% (cancer)]. The positive predictive values ranged from 31% (depression) to 86% (cancer). Conclusion Self-reports of comorbidities do not provide optimal data for the identification of common, chronic conditions in patients with SSc.