Objective: We sought to clarify the validity of self-reported stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) among Japanese population, because information on the validity, particularly on the sensitivity, of self-reported cardiovascular disease is limited and may differ among countries.
Study design and setting: Using the 10-year follow-up questionnaire and a stroke and MI registry in the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective Study (JPHC Study) cohort (n=91,186), we calculated sensitivity and positive predictive values of self-reported stroke and MI incidence over 10 years.
Results: Sensitivity of self-reported incident stroke was 73%, and that for MI was 82%. Positive predictive values were 57% for stroke and 43% for MI. The supplemental inclusion of self-reported angina pectoris increased the sensitivity of MI to 89%, but attenuated the positive predictive value to 18%. Sensitivity of self-reported stroke was highest for subarachnoid hemorrhage (88%), but did not differ greatly among other stroke subtypes, affected sites or size.
Conclusion: Self-reported stroke and MI seem sensitive enough to use for exclusion of stroke and MI at baseline in Japanese cohort studies. However, self-report has too many false positives to be used as the only criterion for incident stroke and MI.