Survey study, 2013
Does how symptoms change during a week affect how accurately women remember them?
Yes. When symptoms were increasing or decreasing during the week, women's memories were less accurate than when symptoms stayed stable.
What they did
95 women with premenstrual symptoms tracked anger, depression, fatigue, and pain daily for 4 weeks. They also completed 7-day recall reports at the end of each week.
What they found
Recall scores were consistently higher (worse) than daily scores. When symptoms had upward or downward trends, the gap between recalled and actual scores was larger and accuracy was lower. When symptoms stayed flat, recall was more accurate.
What it means for you
When women are asked to remember their symptoms from a week ago, accuracy depends on whether symptoms were stable or changing. This is important for how research studies should ask women about symptom changes.
95
women with premenstrual symptoms
4 weeks
daily tracking period
7-day
recall reporting period
About the study
- Original title
- Temporal trends in symptom experience predict the accuracy of recall PROs
- Authors
- Schneider S, Broderick JE, Junghaenel DU et al.
- Journal
- Journal of psychosomatic research
- Year
- 2013
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 95
- What was tested
- None - observational study
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.06.006
Topics
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