Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reliability of cancer family history reported by parents in a case–control study of childhood leukemia

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the reliability of family history of cancer reported by parents of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and parents of healthy control children.

Methods

A total of 301 parents were selected based on positive or negative family history of cancer at baseline, case–control status, and gender of the respondent (mother or father). Baseline responses were compared with responses at the second interview using the same questionnaire. Reliability was measured using proportion of overall agreement, Cohen’s kappa, and Cronbach’s alpha; a logistic regression model was also used to assess the role of the case–control status on overall agreement as the dependent variable.

Results

The overall agreement between interviews was high and similar for cases (85 %) and controls (86 %); there were no consistent effects of respondent gender, age at first interview, or time elapsed between interviews on agreement measures. Agreement measures did not materially vary according to whether respondents were reporting about their mothers, fathers, or siblings.

Conclusions

The study showed very good reliability of reporting family history among young parents of children affected with leukemia and parents of healthy control children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ripert M, Menegaux F, Perel Y, Mechinaud F, Plouvier E, Gandemer V, Lutz P, Vannier JP, Lamagnere JP, Margueritte G, Boutard P, Robert A, Armari-Alla C, Munzer M, Millot F, de Lumley L, Berthou C, Rialland X, Pautard B, Clavel J (2007) Familial history of cancer and childhood acute leukemia: a French population-based case-control study. Eur J Cancer Prev 16(5):466–470. doi:10.1097/01.cej.0000243849.82232.cb

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Smulevich VB, Solionova LG, Belyakova SV (1999) Parental occupation and other factors and cancer risk in children: I Study methodology and non-occupational factors. Int J Cancer 83(6):712–717. doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19991210)83:6<712:aid-ijc2>3.0.co;2-d

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wen WQ, Shu XO, Sellers T, Bhatia S, Lampkin B, Robison LL (1998) Family history of cancer and autoimmune disease and risk of leukemia in infancy: a report from the Children’s Cancer Group (United States and Canada). Cancer Causes Control 9(2):161–171

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rudant J, Menegaux F, Leverger G, Baruchel A, Nelken B, Bertrand Y, Hartmann O, Pacquement H, Verite C, Robert A, Michel G, Margueritte G, Gandemer V, Hemon D, Clavel J (2007) Family history of cancer in children with acute leukemia, Hodgkin’s lymphoma or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: the ESCALE study (SFCE). Int J Cancer 121(1):119–126. doi:10.1002/ijc.22624

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Infante-Rivard C, Guiguet M (2004) Family history of hematopoietic and other cancers in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cancer Detect Prev 28(2):83–87. doi:10.1016/j.cdp.2003.12.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Perrillat F, Clavel J, Jaussent I, Baruchel A, Leverger G, Nelken B, Philippe N, Schaison G, Sommelet D, Vilmer E, Bonaiti-Pellie C, Hemon D (2001) Family cancer history and risk of childhood acute leukemia (France). Cancer Causes Control 12(10):935–941. doi:10.1023/a:1013758114381

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Olsen JH, Boice JD Jr, Seersholm N, Bautz A, Fraumeni JF Jr (1995) Cancer in the parents of children with cancer. N Engl J Med 333(24):1594–1599. doi:10.1056/NEJM199512143332403

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hemminki K, Mutanen P (2001) Parental cancer as a risk factor for nine common childhood malignancies. Br J Cancer 84(7):990–993. doi:10.1054/bjoc.2000.1629

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Winther JF, Sankila R, Boice JD, Tulinius H, Bautz A, Barlow L, Glattre E, Langmark F, Moller TR, Mulvihill JJ, Olafsdottir GH, Ritvanen A, Olsen JH (2001) Cancer in siblings of children with cancer in the Nordic countries: a population-based cohort study. Lancet 358(9283):711–717

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Bondy ML, Strom SS, Colopy MW, Brown BW, Strong LC (1994) Accuracy of family history of cancer obtained through interviews with relatives of patients with childhood sarcoma. J Clin Epidemiol 47(1):89–96. doi:10.1016/0895-4356(94)90037-x

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Chang ET, Smedby KEm, Hjalgrim H, Glimelius B, Adami H-O (2006) Reliability of self-reported family history of cancer in a large case, äìcontrol study of lymphoma. J Natl Cancer Inst 98(1):61–68. doi:10.1093/jnci/djj005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Eerola H, Blomqvist C, Pukkala E, Pyrhonen S, Nevanlinna H (2000) Familial breast cancer in southern Finland: how prevalent are breast cancer families and can we trust the family history reported by patients? Eur J Cancer 36(9):1143–1148

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Anton-Culver H, Kurosaki T, Taylor TH, Gildea M, Brunner D, Bringman D (1996) Validation of family history of breast cancer and identification of the BRCA1 and other syndromes using a population-based cancer registry. Genet Epidemiol 13(2):193–205

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mitchell RJ, Brewster D, Campbell H, Porteous MEM, Wyllie AH, Bird CC, Dunlop MG (2004) Accuracy of reporting of family history of colorectal cancer. Gut 53(2):291–295. doi:10.1136/gut.2003.027896

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Soegaard M, Jensen A, Frederiksen K, Høgdall E, Høgdall C, Blaakær J, Kjaer S (2008) Accuracy of self-reported family history of cancer in a large case-control study of ovarian cancer. Cancer Causes Control 19(5):469–479. doi:10.1007/s10552-007-9108-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Airewele G, Adatto P, Cunningham J, Mastromarino C, Spencer C, Sharp M, Sigurdson A, Bondy M (1998) Family history of cancer in patients with glioma: a validation study of accuracy. J Natl Cancer Inst 90(7):543–544. doi:10.1093/jnci/90.7.543

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Aitken J, Bain C, Ward M, Siskind V, MacLennan R (1995) How accurate is self-reported family history of colorectal cancer? Am J Epidemiol 141(9):863–871

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Ivanovich J, Babb S, Goodfellow P, Mutch D, Herzog T, Rader J, Whelan A (2002) Evaluation of the family history collection process and the accuracy of cancer reporting among a series of women with endometrial cancer. Clin Cancer Res 8(6):1849–1856

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Theis B, Boyd N, Lockwood G, Tritchler D (1994) Accuracy of family cancer history in breast cancer patients. Eur J Cancer Prev 3(4):321–327. doi:10.1097/00008469-199407000-00004

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bravi F, Bosetti C, Negri E, Lagiou P, La Vecchia C (2007) Family history of cancer provided by hospital controls was satisfactorily reliable. J Clin Epidemiol 60(2):171–175. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2006.05.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. King TM, Tong L, Pack RJ, Spencer C, Amos CI (2002) Accuracy of family history of cancer as reported by men with prostate cancer. Urology 59(4):546–550

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kerber RA, Slattery ML (1997) Comparison of self-reported and database-linked family history of cancer data in a case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 146(3):244–248

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Garbers V, Toniolo PG, Taioli E (2001) Changes in self-reported family history of breast cancer with change in case-control status. Eur J Epidemiol 17(6):517–520

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lipworth L, Fryzek JP, Fored CM, Blot WJ, McLaughlin JK (2001) Comparison of surrogate with self-respondents regarding medical history and prior medication use. Int J Epidemiol 30(2):303–308

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Horwitz RI, Yu EC (1985) Problems and proposals for interview data in epidemiological research. Int J Epidemiol 14(3):463–467. doi:10.1093/ije/14.3.463

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Huang D, Guan P, Shi H, He Q, Zhou B (2008) Reliability and accuracy of interview data in non-smoking female lung cancer case-control study. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 27(1):43

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Slanger T, Mutschelknauss E, Kropp S, Braendle W, Flesch-Janys D, Chang-Claude J (2007) Test-retest reliability of self-reported reproductive and lifestyle data in the context of a German case-control study on breast cancer and postmenopausal hormone therapy. Ann Epidemiol 17(12):993–998. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2007.07.094

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Infante-Rivard C, Siemiatycki J, Lakhani R, Nadon L (2005) Maternal exposure to occupational solvents and childhood leukemia. Environ Health Perspect 113(6):787–792

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Landis JR, Koch GG (1977) The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33(1):159–174

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Drews CD, Kraus JF, Greenland S (1990) Recall bias in a case-control study of sudden infant death syndrome. Int J Epidemiol 19(2):405–411. doi:10.1093/ije/19.2.405

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Werler MM, Pober BR, Nelson K, Holmes LB (1989) Reporting accuracy among mothers of malformed and non malformed infants. Am J Epidemiol 129(2):415–421

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Hatch EE, Linet MS, Kleinerman RA, Tarone RE, Severson RK, Hartsock CT, Haines C, Kaune WT, Friedman D, Robison LL, Wacholder S (1998) Association between childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and use of electrical appliances during pregnancy and childhood. Epidemiology 9(3):234–245

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Infante-Rivard C, Jacques L (2000) Empirical study of parental recall bias. Am J Epidemiol 152(5):480–486. doi:10.1093/aje/152.5.480

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Wilson BJ, Qureshi N, Santaguida P, Little J, Carroll JC, Allanson J, Raina P (2009) Systematic review: family history in risk assessment for common diseases. Ann Intern Med 151(12):878–885

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Claire Infante-Rivard is a James McGill Professorship (Canada Research Chair).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 1110 Avenue des Pins, Ouest, Montréal, QC, H3A 1A, Canada

    Claire Infante-Rivard, Federico Roncarolo & Kimberley Doucette

Authors
  1. Claire Infante-Rivard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Federico Roncarolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kimberley Doucette
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire Infante-Rivard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Infante-Rivard, C., Roncarolo, F. & Doucette, K. Reliability of cancer family history reported by parents in a case–control study of childhood leukemia. Cancer Causes Control 23, 1665–1672 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0045-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-012-0045-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation