Adjustments for Temporal Misclassification of Exposure Status in Surveys of Health Outcomes

• Activity Number: 224
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Mental Health Statistics Section
• Author(s): Donsig Jang*+ and Frank B Yoon and Amang Sukasih and Amii Kress and Shannon K. Barth and Clare M. Mahan and Steven S. Coughlin and Erin K. Dursa and Aaron Schneiderman
• Companies: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc and Mathematica Policy Research and Mathematica Policy Research and Department of Veteran Affairs and Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Health Administration and Department of Veteran Affairs
• Keywords: Misclassification ; Raking ; Veterans health ; Operation Enduring Freedom ; Operation Iraqi Freedom

Abstract

In large, complex sample surveys, administrative data used to construct the survey frame may contain information that does not agree with self-reported information. In many cases, misclassification is the result of erroneous recordkeeping; additionally, when there is a delay between sampling and survey fielding, temporal changes in the values of sampling frame variables may occur. We present a motivating example of the National Health Study for a New Generation of U.S. Veterans; in it, deployment status is a primary sampling and analysis variable that indicates whether a Veteran had served in a combat theater in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. About 11 percent of Veterans in the sample had self-reported a deployment status that differed from the administrative records used in sampling. Generally, misclassification of sampling variables requires post-stratification adjustments to the survey weights so that the weighted respondent sample is representative of the target population. We address the nature of misclassified deployment status and then discuss and implement an approach using updated administrative records to adjust the survey weights in the study.