The Use of Proxies in Health Surveys
Substantive and Policy Implications
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9101187 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ray R Mosely (Southern Illinois University Carbondale, corresponding author), Fredric D Wolinsky (0000-0002-0916-4955, Texas A&M University) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 496-510 |
| Publication date | 1986-06-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Medical Care (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0025-7079 • E-ISSN: 1537-1948 |
| Publisher | Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1097/00005650-198606000-00004 |
| PMID | 3713288 |
| OpenAlex | W2002261065 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
It has traditionally been assumed that obtaining health and illness behavior data by proxy on household members who are not present during the actual interview presents no significant threats to the internal validity of subsequent analyses. Using data on the 78,439 adults interviewed in person or by proxy (about 37% of the total adult sample) as part of the 1978 Health Interview Survey, the authors examine whether the use of proxy respondents alters the results of empirical assessments of the behavioral model of health services utilization or the policy implications that can be derived from it. Two important findings emerge from these analyses. On the one hand, failing to consider explicitly the possibility of a proxy effect (i.e., including a proxy variable in the analyses) does not alter the effect parameters estimated for the behavioral model. On the other hand, failing to consider explicitly the effect of using proxies appears to underestimate slightly physician and hospital contact rates (by 4% and 2%, respectively), as well as the volume of physician utilization. The substantive and policy implications of these findings are discussed, as are two alternative explanations that suggest that proxy-respondents simply use fewer health services either because they are "too busy" or because they are in slightly better health
Actuarial science · Demographic economics · Econometrics · Economics · Environmental health · Health services · National Health Interview Survey · Proxy (statistics) · Sample (material) · Statistics · Survey data collection · Health disparities and outcomes · Healthcare Policy and Management · Mathematics · Medicine · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Psychology
Enthusiasm or uncertainty
The Use of Female Spouse Proxies in Common Symptom Reporting
Using Proxies to Evaluate Quality of Life
The role of health care providers and significant others in evaluating the quality of life of patients with chronic disease
Use, Type, and Efficacy of Assistance for Disability
Utilization of health care services by immigrants and other ethnic/cultural groups in Ontario
Beyond the records
The Structure of Physical Health Status
Comparing survey data on functional disability
Influence of proxy respondents in children's health interview surveys
The Use of Significant Others as Proxy Raters of the Quality of Life of Patients with Brain Cancer
Proxy Reporting and the Increasing Prevalence of Arthritis in Canada
Arrested Pregnancy Syndrome in Haiti
| Citations per year | 0.35 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1989 - 2025 (37) |
| Highly cited | No |