Household and Medical Provider Reports on Medical Conditions: National Medical Expenditure Survey, 1987¹,²

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Johnson, Ayah E.^a | Sanchez, Maria Elena^a

Affiliations: [a] Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Executive Office Center, 2101 East Jefferson St. Rockville MD 20852, USA, Tel: + 1 301 594 1406; Fax: + 1 301 5942166

Note: [1] Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association, Atlanta, 1991.

Note: [2] The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and no official endorsement by the Department of Health and Human Services, or the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research is intended and should be inferred. The authors wish to thank Nancy Kieffer from Social and Scientific Systems, Inc. for her programming support and Susan Czechowicz for her thorough literature search.

Abstract: The National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) collected data on medical conditions for persons that sought medical care in 1987. Data on medical conditions were obtained from two sources: the household respondent and the medical provider. This paper uses 1987 NMES data to quantify the level of congruence between household and medical provider reports, and to identify correlates that may explain differences between the two reporting sources. It is important to determine the extent to which household and provider reports on condition data agree and the reasons why disagreements may arise. Moreover, the study uses multivariate techniques to identify correlates that enhance the probability of agreement between household and medical provider reports.

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-1993-19304

Journal: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 199-223, 1993