Validation of a dietary questionnaire assessed with multiple weighed dietary records or 24-hour recalls

Authors: YUAN, CHANGZHENG - Harvard University; SPIEGELMAN, DONNA - Harvard University; RIMM, ERIC - Harvard University; ROSNER, BERNARD - Harvard University; STAMPFER, MEIR - Harvard University; BARNETT, JUNAIDAH - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; CHAVARRO, JORGE - Harvard University; SUBAR, AMY - National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH); SAMPSON, LAURA - Harvard University; WILLETT, WALTER - Harvard University

Submitted to: American Journal of Epidemiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2016
Publication Date: 3/30/2017
Citation: Yuan, C., Spiegelman, D., Rimm, E.B., Rosner, B.A., Stampfer, M.J., Barnett, J.B., Chavarro, J.E., Subar, A.F., Sampson, L.K., Willett, W.C. 2017. Validation of a dietary questionnaire assessed with multiple weighed dietary records or 24-hour recalls. American Journal of Epidemiology. doi: 1093/aje/kww104.

Interpretive Summary: We evaluated the validity of a 152-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire by comparing it to two 7-day dietary records or up to four automated and self-administered 24-hour recalls over a one-year period in the Women's Lifestyle Validation Study. Intakes of energy and 44 nutrients were assessed among 632 U.S. women using the three methods. Compared to the 7-day dietary records, the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire tended to underestimate sodium intake but overestimate intakes of energy, macronutrients, and several nutrients in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids. These data indicate that this semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire provides reasonably valid estimates for intakes of a wide variety of dietary variables and that use of multiple 24-hour recalls or 7-day dietary records as comparison methods provides similar conclusions if day-to-day variation is taken into account.

Technical Abstract: The authors evaluated the validity of a 152-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) by comparing it with two 7-day dietary records (7DDRs) or up to 4 automated self-administered 24-hour recalls (ASA24s) over a 1-year period in the women's Lifestyle Validation Study (2010-2012), conducted among subgroups of the Nurses' Health Studies. Intakes of energy and 44 nutrients were assessed using the 3 methods among 632 US women. Compared with the 7DDRs, SFFQ responses tended to underestimate sodium intake but overestimate intakes of energy, macronutrients, and several nutrients in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids. Spearman correlation coefficients between energy-adjusted intakes from 7DDRs and the SFFQ completed at the end of the data-collection period ranged from 0.36 for lauric acid to 0.77 for alcohol (mean r=0.53). Correlations of the end-period SFFQ were weaker when ASA24s were used as the comparison method (mean r=0.43). After adjustment for within-person variation in the comparison method, the correlations of the final SFFQ were similar with 7DDRs (mean r=0.63) and ASA24s (mean r=0.62). These data indicate that this SFFQ provided reasonably valid estimates for intakes of a wide variety of dietary variables and that use of multiple 24-hour recalls or 7DDRs as a comparison method provided similar conclusions if day-to-day variation was taken into account.