Editing Recall bias

{{Short description|Type of cognitive bias}}
In [[epidemiological]] research, '''recall bias''' is a [[systematic error]] caused by differences in the accuracy or completeness of the [[recollection]]s retrieved ("recalled") by study participants regarding events or experiences from the past.<ref name="Last2000">{{cite book|editor=Last, John M|title=A Dictionary of Epidemiology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPaQY8cG4N4C&pg=PA153|access-date=28 March 2013|date=30 November 2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977434-0|page=153}}</ref>  It is sometimes also referred to as '''[[response bias]]''', '''responder bias''' or '''[[reporting bias]]'''.

== Explanation ==
Recall bias is a type of [[Information bias (epidemiology)|measurement bias]], and can be a [[methodological]] issue in research involving [[interview]]s or [[questionnaire]]s. In this case, it could lead to misclassification of various types of [[Exposure assessment|exposure]].<ref name="FieldEpidemiologyManual">{{cite web|title=Information (measurement) bias|url=https://wiki.ecdc.europa.eu/fem/w/wiki/information-measurement-bias|work=Field Epidemiology Manual|publisher=FEM Wiki|access-date=28 March 2013|author=Moren, Alain; Valenciano, Marta (Kitching, Aileen, ed.)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818094715/https://wiki.ecdc.europa.eu/fem/w/wiki/information-measurement-bias|archive-date=2019-08-18}}</ref>  Recall bias is of particular concern in [[retrospective]] studies that use a [[case-control]] design to investigate the [[etiology]] of a disease or psychiatric condition.<ref name="Kopec1990">{{cite journal|last=Kopec|first=JA|author2=Esdaile, JM |title=Bias in case-control studies. A review.|journal=Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health|date=September 1990|volume=44|issue=3|pages=179–86|pmid=2273353|pmc=1060638|doi=10.1136/jech.44.3.179}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Prince|first=Martin|title=9 - Epidemiology|date=2012-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702033971000094|work=Core Psychiatry (Third Edition)|pages=115–129|editor-last=Wright|editor-first=Pádraig|place=Oxford|publisher=W.B. Saunders|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-7020-3397-1.00009-4|isbn=978-0-7020-3397-1|access-date=2020-10-21|editor2-last=Stern|editor2-first=Julian|editor3-last=Phelan|editor3-first=Michael|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Hoang|first1=Van Dong|title=Chapter 39 - Coffee Consumption and Prostate Cancer|date=2015-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124095175000395|work=Coffee in Health and Disease Prevention|pages=359–366|editor-last=Preedy|editor-first=Victor R.|place=San Diego|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-409517-5.00039-5|isbn=978-0-12-409517-5|access-date=2020-10-21|last2=Tran|first2=Van Dinh|last3=Lee|first3=Andy H.|url-access=subscription}}</ref> For example, in studies of risk factors for [[breast cancer]], women who have had the disease may search their memories more thoroughly than members of the unaffected control group for possible causes of their cancer. Those in the case group (those with breast cancer) may be able to recall a greater number of potential risk factors they had been exposed to than those in the control group (women unaffected by breast cancer). This can potentially exaggerate the relation between a potential risk factor and the disease.<ref name="Schulz2002">{{cite journal|last=Schulz|first=KF|author2=Grimes, DA|title=Case-control studies: research in reverse|journal=Lancet|date=February 2, 2002|volume=359|issue=9304|pages=431–4|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(02)07605-5|pmid=11844534|s2cid=10770936 |url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/surgery/documents/HandoutSchulzforResearch2of07Oct2009.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615120646/http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/surgery/documents/HandoutSchulzforResearch2of07Oct2009.pdf|archive-date=June 15, 2016}}</ref>

== Prevention ==
To minimize recall bias, some clinical trials have adopted a "wash out period", i.e., a substantial time period that must elapse between the subject's first observation and their subsequent observation of the same event.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1097/PAS.0000000000000948 | title = Whole slide imaging versus microscopy for primary diagnosis in surgical pathology: a multicenter randomized blinded noninferiority study of 1992 cases (pivotal study). | journal = American Journal of Surgical Pathology | volume = 42 | issue = 1 | year = 2017 | last1 = Mukhopadhyay | first1 = Sanjay | last2 = Feldman | first2 = Michael | last3 = Abels | first3 = Esther|pmid=28961557 | pmc=5737464 | pages=39–52}}</ref> Use of hospital records rather than patient experience can also help to avoid recall bias.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Lee|first1=William|title=10 - Critical appraisal: Reviewing scientific evidence and reading academic papers|date=2012-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702033971000100|work=Core Psychiatry (Third Edition)|pages=131–142|editor-last=Wright|editor-first=Pádraig|place=Oxford|publisher=W.B. Saunders|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-7020-3397-1.00010-0|isbn=978-0-7020-3397-1|access-date=2020-10-21|last2=Hotopf|first2=Matthew|editor2-last=Stern|editor2-first=Julian|editor3-last=Phelan|editor3-first=Michael|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Standardising sampling methods can help to avoid needing recall information in the first place.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last1=Torelli|first1=Paola|title=Chapter 10 - Headache diaries and calendars|date=2010-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0072975210970103|journal=Handbook of Clinical Neurology|volume=97|pages=137–146|editor-last=Aminoff|editor-first=Michael J.|series=Headache|publisher=Elsevier|language=en|doi=10.1016/s0072-9752(10)97010-3|access-date=2020-10-21|last2=Jensen|first2=Rigmor|pmid=20816416 |isbn=9780444521392 |editor2-last=Boller|editor2-first=François|editor3-last=Swaab|editor3-first=Dick F.|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Often, recall bias is difficult to avoid, and many studies change experiment design to avoid recalling information.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Biases}}

[[Category:Cognitive biases]]
[[Category:Sampling (statistics)]]