Variation in self-report health status across distinct clinical situations is plausible and argues for a longitudinal evaluation.
There is thus little reason to believe that our findings are reflections of a general seasonal variation in self-report patterns, but rather that they either reflect variations in actual alcohol habits during the year or self-report patterns specifically related to questions regarding alcohol consumption.
To reduce the variation in self-reports of perceived exertion, we used the average value of two measurements obtained at midday and at the end of the working day.
That is, short recall periods may produce little variations in self-reports of frequency of sexual behaviors compared to, for example, a 3-months recall period.
Monthly variations in self-report measures of alcohol use may affect both general estimates of alcohol consumption and prevalence estimates of at-risk drinking, and effect estimates between alcohol consumption and various risk factors and consequences.
Overall, the monthly variations in self-reported alcohol use were similar for men and women, except that women reported substantially larger increase in weekly binge drinking during the summer months than did men.
Few studies have looked at the variation in accuracy of self reported smoking by deprivation, although the education level of pregnant women has been linked to the accuracy of self reporting.
Explanations for variation in the self-reporting of CKD may include considering reduced kidney function amongst older patients as a natural part of the ageing process [ 15, 16].
We report results from an experiment that investigates truthfulness in self-reporting under different reporting regimes.
Self-serving biases are well known in self-report studies.
Variations in patients' self-report data may reflect differences in education, the social acceptability of acknowledging distress, and the availability of blood glucose test strips with which to self-monitor glucose levels.
