Sensitivity of household reported medical conditions in the medical expenditure panel survey
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Accurate survey data on medical conditions are critical for health care researchers. Although medical condition data are complex and are subject to reporting error, little information exists on the quality of household reported condition data. METHODS: We used pooled data from 4 years (2002-2005) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to estimate the extent to which household respondents may underreport 23 types of medical conditions. The medical expenditure panel survey is a nationally representative annual survey of approximately 15,000 households which collects medical condition information in 2 separate components-the Household Component (HC) and the Medical Provider Component (MPC). We computed sensitivity rates based on linked HC and MPC data under the assumption that if collection of medical conditions from household respondents was complete, then the conditions reported in the MPC would also be reported in the HC. RESULTS: Sensitivity rates ranged from a high of 93.8% to a low of 37.4% and were 75% or higher for 10 of the 23 conditions analyzed. The overall sensitivity rate for the 23 conditions combined was 74%. CONCLUSIONS: Household reports tended to be more accurate for conditions that are highly salient, cause pain, require hospitalization, require ongoing treatment, have specific recognizable treatment, alter lifestyle, and/or affect daily life (eg, pregnancy, diabetes, and kidney stones). In addition, reporting generally was better when conditions are classified in broader categories rather than in more detail.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The sensitivity of a broader diagnosis in mental health disorders reported is above 90%, but the specific diagnosis might be less certain.
“Although the sensitivity of a broader diagnosis in mental health disorders reported is above 90%, the specific diagnosis might be less uncertain, as addressed in a case study (41).”
Cites
Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions
Fleiss, J. L., Levin, B., & Paik, M. C. (2003) · Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics · doi:10.1002/0471445428 · Cited by 18,646 · see citing works
Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions.
Fielding, A., & Fleiss, J. L. (1974) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A (General) · doi:10.2307/2344565 · Cited by 772 · see citing works
Methodological Issues for Health Care Surveys.
Kasprzyk, D., Cox, B. G., & Cohen, S. B. (1986) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2069329 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Medicare and Chronic Conditions
Anderson, G. F. (2005) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsb044133 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Spending And Service Use Among People With The Fifteen Most Costly Medical Conditions, 1997
Cohen, J. W., & Krauss, N. A. (2003) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.22.2.129 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Self-citationPrescription Drugs And The Changing Concentration Of Health Care Expenditures
Zuvekas, S. H., & Cohen, J. W. (2007) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.26.1.249 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Self-citationA Comparison of Household and Provider Reports of Medical Conditions
Cox, B. G., & Iachan, R. (1987) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.1080/01621459.1987.10478531 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Probability matching of medical events
Winglee, M., Valliant, R. L., Brick, J. M., & Machlin, S. R. (2000) · Journal of Economic and Social Measurement · doi:10.3233/jem-2000-0176 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 9 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Trends in Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Access to Mental Health Care, 2004–2012
Cook, B. L., Trinh, N.-H., Li, Z., Hou, S. S.-Y., & Progovac, A. M. (2017) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201500453 · Cited by 546 · see citing works
“This methodology has been shown to have strong sensitivity (88%) to provider reports of treatment of behavioral health disorders (16).”
BackgroundFord, E. S., Murphy, L. B., Khavjou, O., Giles, W. H., Holt, J. B., & Croft, J. B. (2014) · CHEST Journal · doi:10.1378/chest.14-0972 · Cited by 348 · see citing works
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Cohen, J. W., Cohen, S. B., & Banthin, J. S. (2009) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/mlr.0b013e3181a23e3a · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Self-citationCisternas, M. G., Murphy, L. B., Sacks, J. J., Solomon, D. H., Pasta, D. J., & Helmick, C. G. (2015) · Arthritis Care & Research · doi:10.1002/acr.22721 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
“1%) when compared to MEPS-MPC data (16).”
Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Treatment across Episodes of Mental Health Care
Cook, B. L., Zuvekas, S. H., Carson, N. J., Wayne, G. F., Vesper, A., & McGuire, T. G. (2013) · Health Services Research · doi:10.1111/1475-6773.12095 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Medical Expenditures and Earnings Losses Among US Adults With Arthritis in 2013
Murphy, L. B., Cisternas, M. G., Pasta, D. J., Helmick, C. G., & Yelin, E. H. (2017) · Arthritis Care & Research · doi:10.1002/acr.23425 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
“most types are probably captured within our broad arthritis definition (32).”
BackgroundLuo, Y., Kataoka, Y., Ostinelli, E. G., Cipriani, A., & Furukawa, T. A. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00035 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
“Although the sensitivity of a broader diagnosis in mental health disorders reported is above 90%, the specific diagnosis might be less uncertain, as addressed in a case study (41).”
BackgroundDisparities in mental health service use of racial and ethnic minority elderly adults
Jimenez, D. E., Cook, B., Bartels, S. J., & Alegría, M. (2013) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.12063 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
“This methodology is shown to have strong sensitivity (88%) to provider reports of mental health and substance abuse disorders.(34) The institutional review board JAGS JANUARY 2013–VOL.”
Rodgers, C. R. R., Flores, M. W., Bassey, O., Augenblick, J. M., & Cook, B. L. (2022) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2021.09.420 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Depression Care in Community-Dwelling Elderly in the United States
Akıncıgil, A., Olfson, M., Siegel, M. J., Zurlo, K. A., Walkup, J. T., & Crystal, S. (2011) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2011.300349 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Hockenberry, J. M., Joski, P., Yarbrough, C., & Druss, B. G. (2019) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0633 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
The direct health-care burden of valvular heart disease: evidence from US national survey data
Moore, M., Chen, J., Mallow, P. J., & Rizzo, J. A. (2016) · ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research · doi:10.2147/ceor.s112691 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
“By including a sensitivity analysis using a range of heart valve-disease prevalence estimates, this study addressed the tendency for prevalence rates to be underreported in surveys, a major methodological challenge recognized in survey research.(33) In addition, this study included 30 relevant comorbid diseases, which…”
Aizcorbe, A. M., Liebman, E. B., Pack, S., Cutler, D., Chernew, M. E., & Rosen, A. B. (2012) · Statistical Journal of the IAOS · doi:10.3233/sji-2012-0743 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
“While MEPS provides a wealth of data, it is designed to produce overall national expenditure estimates, which include the most prevalent conditions, not to provide sub-population estimates for less prevalent conditions [22, 23].”
Using Information on Clinical Conditions to Predict High‐Cost Patients
Fleishman, J. A., & Cohen, J. W. (2010) · Health Services Research · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2009.01080.x · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Self-citationMachlin, S. R., Chevan, J., Yu, W. W.-C., & Zodet, M. W. (2011) · Physical Therapy · doi:10.2522/ptj.20100343 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Self-citationEstimating distributions of health state severity for the global burden of disease study
Burstein, R., Fleming, T. D., Haagsma, J., Salomon, J., Vos, T., & Murray, C. (2015) · Population Health Metrics · doi:10.1186/s12963-015-0064-y · Cited by 83 · see citing works
“A sensitivity study also found that rates will improve as condition categories are aggregated [25].”
BackgroundA contemporary and comprehensive analysis of the costs of stroke in the United States
Girotra, T., Lekoubou, A., Bishu, K. G., & Ovbiagele, B. I. (2019) · Journal of the Neurological Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.jns.2019.116643 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Balancing access to health data and privacy: a review of the issues and approaches for the future.
Lane, J., & Schur, C. (2010) · Health Services Research · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2010.01141.x · Cited by 102 · see citing works
“…administrative data lies in the large numbers of observations, permitting the study of small groups with statistical precision, and the greater reliability of certain fields——for example, diagnostic codes from providers or charges used for billing purposes (Berk et al. 1990; Machlin et al. 2009).”
BackgroundGunnarsson, C., Chen, J., Rizzo, J. A., Ladapo, J. A., & Lofland, J. H. (2012) · Digestive Diseases and Sciences · doi:10.1007/s10620-012-2289-y · Cited by 79 · see citing works
“By including a sensitivity analysis using a range of CD or UC prevalence estimates, the tendency for prevalence rates to be underreported in surveys was reduced, a major methodological challenge recognized in survey research [40].”
Assessing incentives for service-level selection in private health insurance exchanges
McGuire, T. G., Newhouse, J. P., Normand, S. T., Shi, J., & Zuvekas, S. H. (2014) · Journal of Health Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.01.009 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Factors Associated With Emergency Department Use Among the Rural Elderly
Fan, L., Shah, M. N., Veazie, P. J., & Friedman, B. (2010) · The Journal of Rural Health · doi:10.1111/j.1748-0361.2010.00313.x · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Machlin, S. R., & Soni, A. (2013) · Preventing Chronic Disease · doi:10.5888/pcd10.120172 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Self-citationRacial-ethnic disparities in outpatient mental health care in the United States
Olfson, M., Zuvekas, S. H., McClellan, C., Wall, M. M., Hankerson, S. H., & Blanco, C. (2023) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.20220365 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Chronic Condition Clusters and Polypharmacy among Adults
Vyas, A., Pan, X., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2012) · International Journal of Family Medicine · doi:10.1155/2012/193168 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“[22] on sensitivity of household reported medical conditions in the MEPS found that household reports tend to be accurate for many conditions.”
BackgroundSaloner, B. K., Carson, N. J., & Cook, B. L. (2014) · Medical Care Research and Review · doi:10.1177/1077558713518347 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Schiltz, N. K. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.953886 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Meraya, A. M., Raval, A. D., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2015) · Preventing Chronic Disease · doi:10.5888/pcd12.140388 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Agarwal, P., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2015) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-015-3393-4 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
“The survey also elicits information on medical and mental health conditions.(20,21) This information is collected verbatim and converted into International Classification of Disease, Ninth edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes by professional coders.”
MethodWang, Y. R., Loftus, E. V., Cangemi, J. R., & Picco, M. F. (2013) · Digestion · doi:10.1159/000350759 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Ozieh, M. N., Dismuke, C. E., Lynch, C. P., & Egede, L. E. (2015) · Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice · doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2015.04.011 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“A study by Machlin et al revealed that individuals with salient diseases requiring specific, ongoing treatment tend to be accurate in reporting their conditions [17].”
BackgroundNational Trends in Diabetes Medication Use in the United States: 2008 to 2015
Raval, A. D., & Vyas, A. (2018) · Journal of Pharmacy Practice · doi:10.1177/0897190018815048 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Sickle cell disease in California: Sociodemographic predictors of emergency department utilization
Wolfson, J. A., Schrager, S. M., Khanna, R., Coates, T. D., & Kipke, M. D. (2011) · Pediatric Blood & Cancer · doi:10.1002/pbc.22979 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
If We Build It, Who Will Come?
Gulley, S. P., Rasch, E. K., & Chan, L. E. (2011) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/mlr.0b013e3182028380 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
“For 23 highly prevalent condition categories (some chronic, some acute), a recent study calculated an overall sensitivity rate of 74% when respondent reports in the MEPS were compared with medical provider reports.(24) In addition, we observed a range of health care utilization patterns among the groups we analyzed; n…”
ResultThe Employee Absenteeism Costs of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Gunnarsson, C., Chen, J., Rizzo, J. A., Ladapo, J. A., Naim, A. B., & Lofland, J. H. (2012) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0b013e31827cba48 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Wolfson, J. A., Schrager, S. M., Coates, T. D., & Kipke, M. D. (2010) · Pediatric Blood & Cancer · doi:10.1002/pbc.22792 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“Large hospital discharge surveys have been used to investigate utilization [10,23,28,32], relying on statistical methods and sampling weights in order to extrapolate to the entire population; however, this approach may be less appropriate in rare diseases such as SCD compared to more common diseases such as diabetes o…”
MethodHalpern, M. T., Renaud, J. M., & Vickrey, B. G. (2011) · Epilepsy & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2011.07.007 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Interviewers prompted respondents to provide information on conditions rather than symptoms [22].”
BackgroundStatin Use in the U.S. for Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Remains Suboptimal
Ngo‐Metzger, Q., Zuvekas, S. H., Shafer, P. R., Tracer, H. L., Borsky, A. E., & Bierman, A. S. (2019) · The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine · doi:10.3122/jabfm.2019.06.180313 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“We also examined the association between additional ASCVD risk factors and statin use, including diagnosed hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes, as well as smoking status.(21) We conducted all analyses with Stata/MP 15 (StataCorp, LLC, College Station, TX) using appropriate sample weights and survey estimation…”
MethodObesity and Incident Prescription Opioid Use in the U.S., 2000–2015
Stokes, A., Lundberg, D. J., Hempstead, K., Berry, K. M., Baker, J. F., & Preston, S. H. (2020) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2019.12.018 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“June 2020 181−196) were excluded.(34) Respondents with a missing BMI or an extreme value <17.”
BackgroundQuality of life and functional limitations in persons with epilepsy
Karakis, I., Boualam, N., Moura, L. M. V. R., & Howard, D. H. (2023) · Epilepsy Research · doi:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2023.107084 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Gulley, S. P., Rasch, E. K., & Chan, L. E. (2010) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2010.191569 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“The use of self-reported medical conditions from MEPS may lead to some degree of undercounting, because undiagnosed health conditions will go unreported, and respondents do not always know or recall their conditions.(41) Also, disability estimates are sensitive to question wordings in health surveys and the coding alg…”
Overuse of Antidepressants in a Nationally Representative Adult Patient Population in 2005
Conti, R. M., Busch, A. B., & Cutler, D. (2011) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.62.7.720 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Grabich, S. C., Farrelly, E., Ortmann, R., Pollack, M. F., & Wu, S. S.-J. (2022) · Lupus Science & Medicine · doi:10.1136/lupus-2021-000640 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Gunnarsson, C., Chen, J., Rizzo, J. A., Ladapo, J. A., Naim, A. B., & Lofland, J. H. (2011) · Journal of Dermatological Treatment · doi:10.3109/09546634.2010.550911 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“By including a sensitivity analysis using a range of psoriasis prevalence estimates, this study addressed the tendency for prevalence rates to be underreported in surveys, a major methodological challenge recognized in survey research (35).”
BackgroundWu, J., Davis–Ajami, M. L., & Lu, K. (2016) · Headache The Journal of Head and Face Pain · doi:10.1111/head.12871 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“Although medical events are verified or information is replaced through a sub-survey of medical providers associated with each medical event (MPC sub-survey), these medical events under-report disease prevalence.(40,41) Medical events may not capture undiagnosed disease, or quiescent disease not requiring treatment.”
BackgroundUse of antidepressants and statins and short-term risk of new-onset diabetes among high risk adults
Bhattacharya, R., Ajmera, M., Bhattacharjee, S., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2014) · Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice · doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2014.04.016 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“[53] MacHlin S, Cohen J, Elixhauser A, Beauregard K, Steiner C.”
BackgroundThe Employee Absenteeism Costs of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Gunnarsson, C., Chen, J., Rizzo, J. A., Ladapo, J. A., Naim, A. B., & Lofland, J. H. (2015) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000000461 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
The Costs and Benefits of Reducing Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care
Cook, B. L., Liu, Z., Lessios, A. S., Loder, S., & McGuire, T. G. (2015) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201400070 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The Association of Health and Income in the Elderly: Experience from a Southern State of Brazil
Fillenbaum, G. G., Blay, S. L., Pieper, C. F., King, K. E., Andreoli, S. B., & Gastal, F. L. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073930 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Health conditions were self-reported, but self-report has been found to be reasonably accurate, in particular for “obvious” or serious conditions [47].”
BackgroundRaval, A. D., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2012) · Journal of Thyroid Research · doi:10.1155/2012/418345 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“1%; thyroid disorders, sensitivity 85%) [46].”
Bruch, J. D. (2016) · Brain Behavior and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.05.014 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Drivers of US health care spending for persons with seizures and/or epilepsies, 2010–2018
Moura, L. M. V. R., Karakis, I., Zack, M. M., Tian, N., Kobau, R., & Howard, D. H. (2022) · Epilepsia · doi:10.1111/epi.17305 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Cost of rheumatic disorders in the Netherlands
Marle, M. E. V. D. A., Chorus, A. M. J., Vlieland, T. P. M. V., & van den Hout, W. B. (2012) · Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology · doi:10.1016/j.berh.2012.08.005 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Fortuna, K. L., Lohman, M. C., Batsis, J. A., DiNapoli, E. A., DiMilia, P. R., BRUCE, M. L., & Bartels, S. J. (2017) · The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine · doi:10.1177/0091217417738936 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
“This method has demonstrated sensitivity (88%) to provider reports of mental health diagnoses.(25) For this study, SMI was defined as individuals with an ICD-9 code of 295 (i.”
Stevans, J. M., & Zodet, M. W. (2012) · Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2012.09.009 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
The Impact Of Medicare’s Mental Health Cost-Sharing Parity On Use Of Mental Health Care Services
Cook, B. L., Flores, M. W., Zuvekas, S. H., Newhouse, J. P., Hsu, J., Sonik, R. A., Lee, E., & Fung, V. (2020) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01008 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Bhattacharjee, S., Oh, Y. M., Reiman, E. M., & Burke, W. J. (2017) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2017.03.003 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Cook, B. L., McGuire, T. G., Alegria, M. M., & Normand, S. T. (2011) · Health Services Research · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2011.01253.x · Cited by 17 · see citing works
“…or substance abuse disorder, codes 291, 292, and 295–314 from the ICD-9/DSM-IV, or if the treatment was coded as psychotherapy or mental health counseling (Zuvekas 2001), a measure sensitive (88 percent) to provider reports of mental health and substance abuse disorders (Machlin et al. 2009).”
BackgroundDepression treatment patterns among individuals with osteoarthritis: a cross sectional study
Agarwal, P., Pan, X., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2013) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-13-121 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“The medical conditions reported by the household respondent were found to be consistent with data from medical care providers [20].”
MethodFunctional Comorbidity Index in chronic rhinosinusitis
Levine, C. G., Davis, G. E., & Weaver, E. M. (2015) · International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology · doi:10.1002/alr.21620 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Bhattacharjee, S., & Sambamoorthi, U. (2013) · Parkinsonism & Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2013.02.019 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Studies conducted to demonstrate the accuracy of survey participants reported conditions have shown that household reports were consistent with provider reports for most of the salient conditions such as diabetes, mental health, and hypertension along with other conditions with a median sensitivity of approximately 70…”
ResultSexual orientation-related disparities in health conditions that elevate COVID-19 severity
Lynch, K. E., Shipherd, J. C., Gatsby, E., Viernes, B., DuVall, S. L., & Blosnich, J. R. (2021) · Annals of Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2021.11.006 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Axon, D. R., Slack, M. K., Barraza, L. F., Lee, J. K., & Warholak, T. L. (2020) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1093/pm/pnaa114 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Burden of Chronic Conditions Among Persons with HIV/AIDS and Psychiatric Comorbidity
Chhatre, S., WOODY, G. E., Metzger, D. S., & Jayadevappa, R. (2021) · Current HIV Research · doi:10.2174/1570162x19666210805092258 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Hategekimana, C., & Karamouzian, M. (2016) · International Journal of Health Policy and Management · doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2016.14 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Bhattacharjee, S., Yami, M. S. A., Kurdi, S. M., & Axon, D. R. (2018) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1723-x · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“MEPS participant reported conditions are consistent with those provided by their medical providers for chronic conditions (such as diabetes, mental health, hypertension) with a median sensitivity of 70% [20].”
MethodSlade, E. P., Goldman, H. H., Dixon, L. B., Gibbons, B., & Stuart, E. A. (2015) · Medical Care Research and Review · doi:10.1177/1077558715592745 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“These conditions were also selected because a prior validation study suggested that MEPS respondents’ self-reports of these conditions are comparatively reliable (Machlin et al., 2009).”
MethodLost Labor Productivity Costs of Prostate Cancer to Patients and Their Spouses
Rizzo, J. A., Zyczynski, T. M., Chen, J., Mallow, P. J., Trudel, G. C., & Penrod, J. R. (2016) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000000621 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“If this adjustment is not made, estimates of incremental costs associated with lost productivity are less reliable.(16,24)”
BackgroundKataoka, Y., Luo, Y., Chaimani, A., Ōnishi, A., Kimachi, M., Tsujimoto, Y., Murad, M. H., Li, T., Cipriani, A., & Furukawa, T. A. (2020) · Archives of Osteoporosis · doi:10.1007/s11657-020-0697-8 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“A validation study showed that the sensitivity of diagnosis of osteoporosis was about 50% [45].”
Jimenez, D. E., Cook, B. L., Kim, G., Reynolds, C. F., Alegria, M. M., Coe-Odess, S., & Bartels, S. J. (2015) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201400246 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“This method is shown to have strong sensitivity (88%) to provider reports of treatment for behavioral disorders (20).”
The benefits, risks and costs of privacy: patient preferences and willingness to pay
Trachtenbarg, D. E., Asche, C. V., Ramsahai, S., Duling, J., & Ren, J. (2017) · Current Medical Research and Opinion · doi:10.1080/03007995.2017.1292229 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Incremental direct healthcare expenditures of valvular heart disease in the USA
Mallow, P. J., Chen, J., Moore, M., Gunnarsson, C., & Rizzo, J. A. (2019) · Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research · doi:10.2217/cer-2019-0007 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Association Between Self-reported Depression and Screening Colonoscopy Participation
Calderwood, A. H., Bacic, J. D., Kazis, L. E., & Cabral, H. (2013) · Journal of Ambulatory Care Management · doi:10.1097/jac.0b013e3182a3e73f · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“However, studies show that self-reported mental health is the third most accurately reported condition in MEPS, with a sensitivity rate of 88% (Machlin et al., 2009; Mawani & Gilmour, 2010).”
BackgroundRane, P., Sambamoorthi, U., & Madhavan, S. (2013) · Health Psychology Research · doi:10.4081/hpr.2013.632 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Fox, J., Ajinkya, S., & Lekoubou, A. (2020) · Epilepsy & Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107465 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Comparison of the Quality of Chronic Disease Management Between Adults With and Without Dementia
Gotanda, H., Nuckols, T. K., Mori, K., & Tsugawa, Y. (2021) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.9622 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Contemporary Trends in the Use of and Expenditures on Digoxin in the United States
Alahmed, A. A., Lauffenburger, J. C., Vaduganathan, M., Aldemerdash, A. M., Ting, C., Fatani, N., Fanikos, J. R., & Buckley, L. F. (2022) · American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs · doi:10.1007/s40256-022-00540-x · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“We used collapsed three-digit ICD codes for the present analysis as fully specified codes lack sufficient accuracy owing to the self-reported nature of medical conditions [9].”
MethodBhattacharjee, S., Yegezu, Z., Kollecas, K., Duhrkopf, K., Hashemi, L., & Greene, N. (2021) · ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research · doi:10.2147/ceor.s305154 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Song, H. J., Heo, J. H., Wilson, D. L., Shao, H., & Park, H. (2022) · Value in Health · doi:10.1016/j.jval.2022.02.011 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Murphy, L. B., Helmick, C. G., Cisternas, M. G., & Yelin, E. H. (2010) · Arthritis & Rheumatism · doi:10.1002/art.27514 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Prescription Medication Use and Expenditure for Atrial Fibrillation in the United States
Thyagaturu, H. S., Seetharam, K., Roma, N., Patel, N., Lacoste, J. L., Padala, V., Gonuguntla, K., Munir, M. B., & Balla, S. (2024) · Value in Health · doi:10.1016/j.jval.2024.11.012 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Jimenez, D. E., Schmidt, A. C., Kim, G., & Cook, B. L. (2016) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.4546 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“…worker), or general medical provider care, emergency department visits, or inpatient hospitalization specifically linked to ICD-9 codes related to mood, anxiety, psychotic, substance use, personality, behavioral, and developmental disorders (codes 291, 292, or 295–314) (Machlin et al., 2009).”
BackgroundVyas, A., Cohen, S., & Eisenhower, C. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-13071-7 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Also, validity of self-reported disease in MEPS is relatively high 48 .”
The impact of medication use on symptom burden in older patients with multiple medical morbidities
Han, M. A., Tinetti, M. E., Agostini, J. V., Han, L., Lee, H., & Walke, L. M. (2013) · Journal of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics · doi:10.1016/j.jcgg.2013.03.002 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Comorbidities and perceived health status in persons with history of cancer in the USA
Obeng‐Kusi, M., Vardy, J. L., Bell, M. L., Choi, B. M., & Axon, D. R. (2022) · Supportive Care in Cancer · doi:10.1007/s00520-022-07479-4 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Machlin and colleagues found the overall sensitivity, in terms of consistency between the self-reported and healthcare provider reported chronic conditions in the MEPS, to be 74% [14].”
BackgroundJohnson, K. A., Politis, M. D., Hansen, A. R., McKenzie, L. E., Duncan, D. T., & Zhang, J. (2016) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000826 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Thyagaturu, H. S., Ali, S., Seetharam, K., Upreti, P., Doddi, A., Atti, L., Roma, N., Lacoste, J. L., Angirekula, A., Salami, J., et al. (2024) · Cardiology and Therapy · doi:10.1007/s40119-024-00385-2 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“While one study reported discrepancies in estimations of results based on MEPS data [38], other studies have addressed the sensitivity and specificity of this matter and reported the overall relative accuracy of MEPS data [39].”
Sakharkar, P., & Mai, T. (2021) · Pharmacy · doi:10.3390/pharmacy9040157 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“) with a median sensitivity of 70% [16].”
BackgroundMallow, P. J., Chen, J., Rizzo, J. A., Penrod, J. R., Trudel, G. C., & Zyczynski, T. M. (2016) · Journal of health economics and outcomes research · doi:10.36469/9844 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Bhattacharjee, S., Yegezu, Z., Kollecas, K., Duhrkopf, K., Greene, N., & Hashemi, L. (2022) · Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy · doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.07.005 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Murphy, L. B., Sacks, J. J., Helmick, C. G., Brady, T. J., Barbour, K. E., Hootman, J. M., Boring, M. A., Moss, S., Guglielmo, D., & Theis, K. A. (2018) · Arthritis & Rheumatology · doi:10.1002/art.40733 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Evidence from studies examining the accuracy of selfreported OA suggests that most people with OA simply report what they have as arthritis, or misreport it as rheumatoid arthritis or a nonspecific type of arthritis (12,13).”
The Impact of Medication Use and Medical Morbidity on Symptom Burden in Older Patients
Han, M. A. (2010) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Brooks, G., Dolphin, M., & Rufa, A. (2018) · Physiotherapy Theory and Practice · doi:10.1080/09593985.2018.1441933
“broadly defined medical conditions of respondents in the MEPS HC, (Machlin et al., 2009) and have been used by previous investigators to select persons with musculoske-”
MethodComorbidities and perceived health status in persons with history of cancer in the USPreprint
Obeng‐Kusi, M., Vardy, J. L., Bell, M. L., Choi, B. M., & Axon, D. R. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1620306/v1
Nahin, R. L., Feinberg, T., Grol-Prokopczyk, H., Kapos, F. P., Murray, K., Scott, R., & Zajacova, A. (2026) · The Lancet Regional Health - Americas · doi:10.1016/j.lana.2025.101342
Vyas, A., Cohen, S., & Eisenhower, C. (2026) · Lupus · doi:10.1177/09612033261430565
- Authors
- Machlin, S., Cohen, J., Elixhauser, A., Beauregard, K., & Steiner, C.
- Affiliations
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US)
- Corresponding author
- Machlin, Steven
- Venue
- Medical Care
- Published
- 2009-06
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 618-625
- ISSN
- 0025-7079 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2031950852
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 25.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medical Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Medical Coding and Health Information
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Medical Studies
- Keywords
- underreporting, survey data quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, chronic disease, diabetes mellitus, pregnancy, kidney stones
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Child, Child, Preschool, Chronic Disease, Health Expenditures, Female, Health Services Research, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Pregnancy, Sensitivity and Specificity, Models, Economic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
