Invited Commentary: Invited Commentary: Recall Bias in Melanoma—Much Ado About Almost Nothing?

摘要

Recall bias has been given considerable attention in textbooks and methodological research because of itsnpotential to jeopardize the validity of epidemiologic results. Case-control studies on self-reported ultraviolet radia-ntion exposure as a risk factor for melanoma have been described as especially prone to the deleterious effect ofnrecall bias because of the growing public awareness about these risks. Using an ideal test-retest design in a largennested case-control study, Parr et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2009;169(3):257–266) examined to what extent recall biasnin melanoma risk factors is actually identifiable and which consequences its presence has on effect estimates ofnthese risk factors. They found only minor indications of recall bias, showing an inconsistent overall pattern andna quite negligible effect on risk estimates. Recall bias was not observed in those exposures where it was mostnexpected (solarium use and other ultraviolet radiation-related exposures). Their findings cannot be used as annargument that future case-control studies in melanoma epidemiology should be avoided because of the biasingneffect of recall bias.