Differences Between Retrospectively and Prospectively Reported Life History Information and Implications for Analyses of Population Health Outcomes
Major longitudinal studies of population health and aging, including the Survey of Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE), have used retrospective life history (RLH) interviews to collect earlier life course exposures. However, the reliability of RLH data has not been comprehensively evaluated against the "gold standard" of prospectively collected information. We present results from an adaptation of the SHARE RLH interview, fielded with the long-running American's Changing Lives (ACL) study (ACL-LIFE). We compare retrospectively and prospectively collected reports about negative life events and health status. Results show substantial levels of mismatch in reports of the presence, count, and timing of these events and statuses. We also report on predictors of mismatch and discuss implications for studies of life course determinants of health and health disparities.
Bio:
Sarah Burgard conducts research on the social stratification of aging and health with population-based survey data, and has published extensively on the social factors underlying health disparities by socioeconomic status, gender, and race/ethnicity across the life course. Some of her recent research and grant funding has centered on understanding these questions in the context of economic recessions, which disrupt career, economic, and health paths for many adults, but especially for socioeconomically-marginalized groups. She has published on the influences of job loss, financial shocks, debt, housing instability, and material hardship, with a focus on creating life course measures of cumulative disadvantage for which retrospective or prospective life history data are essential. Burgard received a PhD in Sociology and an MS in Epidemiology at UCLA and is Professor of Sociology and by courtesy, Epidemiology and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She is currently director of Michigan’s Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research.
