Smith-DiJulio K, Mitchell E Sullivan, Woods N Fugate
Department of Family and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-7262, USA.
Climacteric. 2005 Dec;8(4):390-7. doi: 10.1080/13697130500345018.
First, to compare retrospective self-report of irregular and skipped periods by women in the menopausal transition to information recorded concurrently on calendars; and, second, to describe how participants' definitions of irregularity and skipping affected reporting.
The sample was 161 women who returned both complete menstrual calendars and questionnaires in any year between 1997 and 2002. Irregular and skipped periods documented on menstrual calendars were compared with self-reports. Data were z-score adjusted for repeated observations in women and analyzed using Cohen's kappa.
Agreement between calendar and questionnaire reporting of cycle irregularity was weak (kappa = 0.192). Participants' definitions of irregularity and skipping differed markedly from those of the researchers. Agreement about skipping was stronger overall and increased after a definition of skipping was provided to study participants (kappa pre-definition = 0.597; post-definition = 0.765). Counts of skipped cycles led to the greatest differences between researchers and participants.
Accuracy of self-reports of menstrual cycle irregularity or skipping is not sufficient without explanations about what is meant by those terms. Researchers and clinicians who solicit information from women about menstrual cycle patterns need to define explicitly the phenomenon of interest to insure accurate information.
第一，比较处于绝经过渡期的女性对月经周期不规律和月经跳过情况的回顾性自我报告与同时记录在日历上的信息；第二，描述参与者对不规律和跳过的定义如何影响报告。
样本为161名女性，她们在1997年至2002年的任何一年中都返还了完整的月经日历和问卷。将月经日历上记录的月经周期不规律和跳过情况与自我报告进行比较。对女性的重复观察数据进行z分数调整，并使用科恩kappa系数进行分析。
日历记录与问卷报告的月经周期不规律情况之间的一致性较弱（kappa = 0.192）。参与者对不规律和跳过的定义与研究人员的定义明显不同。总体而言，关于月经跳过情况的一致性更强，在向研究参与者提供月经跳过的定义后有所增加（定义前kappa = 0.597；定义后kappa = 0.765）。月经跳过周期的计数导致研究人员和参与者之间的差异最大。
如果没有对这些术语含义的解释，月经周期不规律或跳过的自我报告准确性不足。从女性那里获取月经周期模式信息的研究人员和临床医生需要明确界定感兴趣的现象，以确保获得准确信息。
