Dareng Eileen O, Adebamowo Sally N, Eseyin Olabimpe R, Odutola Michael K, Pharoah Paul P, Adebamowo Clement A
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.
Front Public Health. 2017 Jul 17;5:172. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2017.00172. eCollection 2017.
Studies assessing risk of sexual behavior and disease are often plagued by questions about the reliability of self-reported sexual behavior. In this study, we evaluated the reliability of self-reported sexual history among urbanized women in a prospective study of cervical HPV infections in Nigeria.
We examined test-retest reliability of sexual practices using questionnaires administered at study entry and at follow-up visits. We used the root mean squared approach to calculate within-person coefficient of variation (CV) and calculated the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) using two way, mixed effects models for continuous variables and [Formula: see text] statistics for discrete variables. To evaluate the potential predictors of reliability, we used linear regression and log binomial regression models for the continuous and categorical variables, respectively.
We found that self-reported sexual history was generally reliable, with overall ICC ranging from 0.7 to 0.9; however, the reliability varied by nature of sexual behavior evaluated. Frequency reports of non-vaginal sex (agreement = 63.9%, 95% CI: 47.5-77.6%) were more reliable than those of vaginal sex (agreement = 59.1%, 95% CI: 55.2-62.8%). Reports of time-invariant behaviors were also more reliable than frequency reports. The CV for age at sexual debut was 10.7 (95% CI: 10.6-10.7) compared with the CV for lifetime number of vaginal sex partners, which was 35.2 (95% CI: 35.1-35.3). The test-retest interval was an important predictor of reliability of responses, with longer intervals resulting in increased inconsistency (average change in unreliability for each 1 month increase = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.07-0.38, = 0.005).
Our findings suggest that overall, the self-reported sexual history among urbanized Nigeran women is reliable.
评估性行为和疾病风险的研究常常受到自我报告性行为可靠性问题的困扰。在本研究中，我们在尼日利亚一项关于宫颈人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）感染的前瞻性研究中，评估了城市化女性自我报告的性史的可靠性。
我们通过在研究开始时和随访时发放问卷来检验性行为的重测信度。我们使用均方根方法计算个体内变异系数（CV），并使用双向混合效应模型计算连续变量的组内相关系数（ICC），对于离散变量使用[公式：见原文]统计量。为了评估可靠性的潜在预测因素，我们分别对连续变量和分类变量使用线性回归模型和对数二项回归模型。
我们发现自我报告的性史总体上是可靠的，总体ICC范围为0.7至0.9；然而，可靠性因所评估的性行为性质而异。非阴道性行为的频率报告（一致性 = 63.9%，95%可信区间：47.5 - 77.6%）比阴道性行为的频率报告（一致性 = 59.1%，95%可信区间：55.2 - 62.8%）更可靠。时间不变性行为的报告也比频率报告更可靠。首次性行为年龄的CV为10.7（95%可信区间：10.6 - 10.7），而终身阴道性伴侣数量的CV为35.2（95%可信区间：35.1 - 35.3）。重测间隔是反应可靠性的一个重要预测因素，间隔时间越长，不一致性增加（每增加1个月，不可靠性的平均变化 = 0.04，95%可信区间 = 0.07 - 0.38，P = 0.005）。
我们的研究结果表明，总体而言，尼日利亚城市化女性自我报告的性史是可靠的。
