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These time biases were l ikely to influence t he detection
of physical c linical signs a t clinical eXAmi nation llnd
addit ionally also r a ise a question of a recall bias i n the
reporting of symptOIllS i n these two g roups of SUbject who were
on the average as s ess ed for mo r bidity a t periods t wo weeks
apart.
Generally t he SUbjects who f ailed to attend an d were
l a t er found were observed to have f e wer he a l th com plaints a nd
h e nc e few er r ates o f pathology and d i s e as e than those who ca me
s pontane ous ly to t he c l i nic. When we co ns i der the issue of
recall b i as in the reporting of symptoms at i nterview, it is
reasonab le t o sa y t ha t s ymptoms such a s abdomina l pa i n,
perine a l so reness and fever (t he most f r e que nt l y reported
s yJnpt oms in this s ample) a re not comp l a int s which could have
e asily been f org ot t en by t he usua l individual in the s ho r t
time period. of one to two weeks after they h ad occurred .
One t herefore feels co nfident t hat a recall bias wa s
un likely t o h ave affected the f requency wit h whi c h s ymptoms in
t his s t Udy were re ported by t he non - at t e nding SUbj e c ts.
Physical findi ng s i n SUbj ects ge nerally co r r e l ated well
wi t h s ymptoms t hey repor t e d a nd pri or t r e atment wa s n ot
obs er ve d t o hav e i n f l ue nc e d the detecti on of pathology i n t he
SUbjec t s. One co uld of course argue that c l i nical physic a l
f indings change wi t h time. They could become better and l e s s
ev ident , or on the othe r h a nd worse wi th t i me. This would