Reliability and validity of maternal recall of injuries in Pacific children: findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study.

Childhood injury is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Many epidemiological studies use self-report injury data to understand the pattern of injury, and to identify risk factors and potential injury countermeasures, but the veracity of these data is not without question.To investigate the reliability and validity of the use of maternal recall of childhood injuries in a birth cohort study of Pacific mothers residing in New Zealand.As part of the Pacific Islands Families Study (PIFS), this study included 1,354 Pacific children born in Auckland in 2000 whose mothers completed a questionnaire at 6-weeks, 1-year, 2-years, 4-years, and 6-years postpartum. Maternal reports of child injuries and medical attendance events reported were matched to listings held within the National New Zealand Health Information Service's National Medical Discharge Summary (NMDS) database.Overall, 120 child injury events were listed in the NMDS database and 139 in the PIFS questionnaires. Kappa statistics demonstrated a modest level of agreement between the NMDS database listings and the mothers reporting of childhood injuries over the six years postpartum. However, McNemar's test of symmetry revealed no systemic under-reporting by the mothers, suggesting that the use of maternal proxy reporting of childhood injuries is a valid measure in this population.While maternal proxy reporting of Pacific childhood injuries was found to be a valid measure, some evidence of misinterpretation of questions was found; suggesting continued vigilance and development of maternal completed childhood injury questionnaires is warranted.