An assessment of the validity of reporting by proxy to women's health questionnaire - A pilot study

Objective: The quality of proxy reports provided by husbands regarding women's health, when the index case (the wife) cannot be interviewed, is controversial. Study design: Fourteen husbands and wives at menopause were interviewed separately using the same pre-constructed questionnaire. The extent of agreement between their reports was assessed. Results: Higher agreement was noted for questions regarding physiognomy, number of live children, age at menopause and general health problems. Lesser agreement was observed regarding obstetric history. Conclusions: In light of these preliminary observations, the use of husbands as proxy for women's health questionnaire at midlife should be carefully considered and may be limited to questions regarding general health issues rather than reproductive health. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.