Misiri Humphreys E, Muula Adamson S
Department of Community Health, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi.
Afr Health Sci. 2005 Dec;5(4):335-7. doi: 10.5555/afhs.2005.5.4.335.
Mis-reporting of data by study participants in a questionnaire-based study is an important source of bias in studies.
To determine the prevalence and factors influencing mis-reporting of gravidity among rural women in Malawi.
Data from cross sectional study conducted in 2004 were analysed using logistic regression analysis and the logit modeling.
7118 women were in the reproductive age group, 2387(33.5%) had ever attended school, 4556 (64.0%) had never and results for 175 (2.5%) were missing. Of those who attended school, 94.9% (2297) had attained a maximum primary level, 5.04% (122) secondary level and 0.08% (2) tertiary level. 81.6% of the women were aged between 12 and 36 years of age, mean was 26.1 years (SD 10.05 years). The remaining 18.4% were aged between 37 and 49 years of age. The mean number of pregnancies attained was 4.0 (SD 3.4), live births was 3.0 (SD 3.2), mean number of stillbirths was almost zero (SD 0.9) and the mean number of children alive was 2.0 (SD 2.3). The prevalence of mis-reporting of gravidity was 7.9%. Factors influencing the risk of under-reporting gravidity were: previous experience of a still-birth, young age, not being married and having ever attended some level of education.
We suggest that women who perceived that the community expected them, or they expected themselves to have fewer or no pregnancy at all, censured themselves in reporting low number of pregancies. Researchers using questionnaires should keep in mind possibility of mis-reporting of number of pregnancies among women as this may introduce error in research results. Incorporating multiple questions asking the same thing but in a different way has potential to identify biases as these other questions serve as consistency checks.
在基于问卷的研究中，研究参与者对数据的错误报告是研究中偏差的一个重要来源。
确定马拉维农村妇女中妊娠次数误报的患病率及影响因素。
使用逻辑回归分析和对数单位模型对2004年进行的横断面研究数据进行分析。
7118名妇女处于育龄期，2387名（33.5%）曾上学，4556名（64.0%）从未上学，175名（2.5%）结果缺失。在上学的人中，94.9%（2297名）最高学历为小学，5.04%（122名）为中学，0.08%（2名）为大专。81.6%的妇女年龄在12至36岁之间，平均年龄为26.1岁（标准差10.05岁）。其余18.4%的妇女年龄在37至49岁之间。平均妊娠次数为4.0（标准差3.4），活产数为3.0（标准差3.2），死产平均数几乎为零（标准差0.9），存活子女平均数为2.0（标准差2.3）。妊娠次数误报的患病率为7.9%。影响妊娠次数少报风险的因素有：既往死产经历、年轻、未婚和曾接受过某种程度的教育。
我们认为，那些认为社区期望她们或她们自己期望妊娠次数更少或根本没有妊娠的妇女，在报告低妊娠次数时会自我审查。使用问卷的研究人员应牢记妇女妊娠次数可能被误报，因为这可能会在研究结果中引入误差。纳入多个以不同方式询问相同问题的问题有潜力识别偏差，因为这些其他问题可作为一致性检查。
