Validation of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Food Frequency Questionnaire for use among Adults in Lebanon

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Karim Khaled ◽  
Vanora Hundley ◽  
Maya Bassil ◽  
Mira Bazzi ◽  
Fotini Tsofliou

Abstract Objective: To validate the EPIC food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in Lebanon. Design: Validation of the EPIC FFQ was done against three 24-hour recalls. Unadjusted and energy adjusted correlations, Bland Altman plots, and weighed kappa statistics were used to assess the agreement between the two methods. Setting: Lebanon. Participants: 119 adults (staff and students) at a Lebanese University. Results: Good unadjusted and energy-adjusted correlation coefficients were found between data from the two methods which ranged from −0.002 (vitamin A) to 0.337 (carbohydrates) and were all statistically significant except for vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin A, selenium, and niacin. Slight/fair agreement was reported through weighed kappa estimates for unadjusted data ranging from −0.05 (vitamin C) to 0.248 (magnesium) and for energy-adjusted data ranging from −0.034 (vitamin A) to 0.203 (phosphorus). Individuals were categorised into exact and adjacent quartiles with an average of 78% for unadjusted data and 70% for energy-adjusted data, indicating a very good agreement between the EPIC FFQ and the average of the 24-HRs data. The visual inspection of the Bland-Altman plots revealed an over-estimation of energy, carbohydrates, protein, and fat intakes by the FFQ method. Conclusion: Overall, when all tests were taken into consideration, this study demonstrated an acceptable agreement of the EPIC FFQ with the 24-hour dietary recall method and significantly good correlations between dietary intakes. Therefore, the EPIC FFQ can be considered a valid tool for assessing diet in epidemiological studies among Lebanese adults.

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 2197-2206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernanda Baeza Scagliusi ◽  
Mariana Tarricone Garcia ◽  
Ana Luiza Coutinho Indiani ◽  
Marly Augusto Cardoso

This study aimed to assess the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) developed to assess food intake of schoolchildren from the Brazilian Western Amazon. The dietary intakes of 61 schoolchildren, aged between six and nine 9 years, were measured using two 24-hour dietary recalls and one FFQ, conducted with the children's, mother or guardians. Validity of the FFQ compared to the mean of the two dietary recalls was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient adjusted for attenuation and energy intake, Bland & Altman plots and evaluation of agreement levels between the two assessment methods. Energy-adjusted and deattenuated correlation coefficients ranged from -0.03 for vitamin C, to 0.93 for calcium. The mean coefficient was 0.46. The mean proportion of subjects classified within one quintile by the two methods was 66%. The Bland & Altman plots indicated good agreement for almost all nutrients, with a mean limit of agreement of 108%. These results indicate that, although there was a lack of accuracy for certain nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, the FFQ ensures reliable estimates of intake of most nutrients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-183
Author(s):  
Gabriela Roman ◽  
Anca-Elena Crăciun ◽  
Adriana Rusu ◽  
Cristian Crăciun ◽  
Bogdan Ananie ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and aims: The present study aimed to assess the relative validity of the Romanian version of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in evaluating habitual dietary intake. Material and methods: We used an FFQ that comprised questions on 90 beverage and food items from Nurses Health Questionnaire. The linguistic interchangeability between translation and original questions of the FFQ was assessed in 50 bilingual adults. Also, the FFQ was validated against the 24-h recall diary in 85 participants from ORO study enrolled in Cluj County. Results: The Spearman correlation coefficients between the Romanian and English versions of the FFQ ranged between 0.614 and 1.000, with the majority having values >0.900 (p <0.05 for all). Caloric and nutrient intake estimated from FFQ was significantly correlated with that derived from 24-h dietary recall (correlation coefficients 0.243 to 0.339; p-values <0.05). >70% of the participants were classified in the same or adjacent quartiles of energy and nutrient consumption showing a good agreement between FFQ and 24-h dietary recall. Tested FFQ questionnaire had a good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.931 and 0.949, respectively. Conclusion: Tested FFQ had an acceptable relative validity and can be used to estimate caloric and macronutrient intake.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1163
Author(s):  
Suzana Shahar ◽  
Mohd Razif Shahril ◽  
Noraidatulakma Abdullah ◽  
Boekhtiar Borhanuddin ◽  
Mohd Arman Kamaruddin ◽  
...  

Measuring dietary intakes in a multi-ethnic and multicultural setting, such as Malaysia, remains a challenge due to its diversity. This study aims to develop and evaluate the relative validity of an interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in assessing the habitual dietary exposure of The Malaysian Cohort (TMC) participants. We developed a nutrient database (with 203 items) based on various food consumption tables, and 803 participants were involved in this study. The output of the FFQ was then validated against three-day 24-h dietary recalls (n = 64). We assessed the relative validity and its agreement using various methods, such as Spearman’s correlation, weighed Kappa, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland–Altman analysis. Spearman’s correlation coefficient ranged from 0.24 (vitamin C) to 0.46 (carbohydrate), and almost all nutrients had correlation coefficients above 0.3, except for vitamin C and sodium. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from −0.01 (calcium) to 0.59 (carbohydrates), and weighted Kappa exceeded 0.4 for 50% of nutrients. In short, TMC’s FFQ appears to have good relative validity for the assessment of nutrient intake among its participants, as compared to the three-day 24-h dietary recalls. However, estimates for iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C should be interpreted with caution.


2001 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 961-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi J Wengreen ◽  
Ronald G Munger ◽  
Siew Sun Wong ◽  
Nancy A West ◽  
Richard Cutler

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the 137-item Utah Picture-sort Food-frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) in the measurement of usual dietary intake in older adults.Design:The picture-sort FFQ was administered at baseline and again one year later. Three seasonal 24-hour dietary recall interviews were collected during the year between the two FFQs. Mean nutrient intakes were compared between methods and between administrations of the FFQ.Setting:The FFQ interviews were administered in respondents' homes or care-centres. The 24-hour diet recalls were conducted by telephone interview on random days of the week.Subjects:Two-hundred-and-eight men and women aged 55–84 years were recruited by random sample of controls from a case–control study of nutrition and bone health in Utah.Results:After adjustment for total energy intake, median Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the two picture-sort FFQs were 0.69 for men aged ≤69 years, 0.66 for men aged >69 years; and 0.68 for women aged ≤69 years, 0.67 for women aged >69 years. Median correlation coefficients between methods were 0.50 for men ≤69 years old, 0.52 for men >69 years old; 0.55 for women ≤69 years old, 0.46 for women >69 years old.Conclusions:We report intake correlations between methods and administrations comparable to those reported in the literature for traditional paper-and-pencil FFQs and one other picture-sort method of FFQ. This dietary assessment method may improve ease and accuracy of response in this and other populations with low literacy levels, poor memory skill, impaired hearing, or poor vision.


2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2068-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Liane Henn ◽  
Sandra Costa Fuchs ◽  
Leila Beltrami Moreira ◽  
Flavio Danni Fuchs

This study assessed the validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ-Porto Alegre), covering 135 food items, in comparison with the average of two consecutive 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires for adolescents, adults, and elderly who were randomly selected from a population-based survey. The Pearson correlation coefficients and cross-classification by quartiles of intake were used. The nutrients were log transformed and energy adjusted. The mean of adjusted de-attenuated correlation coefficient for adolescents was 0.44 and ranged from 0.18 (zinc) to 0.69 (folate) and for adult and elderly participants they were, respectively, 0.42, ranging from 0.16 (iron) to 0.73 (energy) and 0.52, ranging from 0.25 (vitamin E) to 0.84 (energy). The average classification percentage into the same or adjacent quartile for the two methods was 74.6% for adolescents, 74.9% for adults, and 81.2% for the elderly population. The FFQ showed fair relative validity for adolescents and adults, and may be used to study the dietary determinants of obesity and non-transmissible diseases in epidemiological surveys.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. NMI.S38374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayumi Yanagisawa ◽  
Noriko Sudo ◽  
Yukiko Amitani ◽  
Yuko Caballero ◽  
Makiko Sekiyama ◽  
...  

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for rural Rwandans. Since our FFQ was developed to assess malnutrition, it measured energy, protein, vitamin A, and iron intakes only. We collected 260 weighed food records (WFRs) from a total of 162 Rwandans. Based on the WFR data, we developed a tentative FFQ and examined the food list by percent contribution to energy and nutrient intakes. To assess the validity, nutrient intakes estimated from the FFQ were compared with those calculated from three-day WFRs by correlation coefficient and cross-classification for 17 adults. Cumulative contributions of the 18-item FFQ to the total intakes of energy and nutrients reached nearly 100%. Crude and energy-adjusted correlation coefficients ranged from -0.09 (vitamin A) to 0.58 (protein) and from -0.19 (vitamin A) to 0.68 (iron), respectively. About 50%-60% of the participants were classified into the same tertile. Our FFQ provided acceptable validity for energy and iron intakes and could rank Rwandan adults in eastern rural area correctly according to their energy and iron intakes.


1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Lilian Portocarrero ◽  
Julieta Quan de Serrano ◽  
Carmen Yolanda Lopez ◽  
Elien de Zepeda ◽  
Alejandrina Vasquez Jesus Bulux ◽  
...  

The purpose of the study was to compare the 24-hour-recall method with the seven-day food-frequency questionnaire to estimate the dietary intake of vitamin A. Thirty-three women from a pert-urban neighbourhood in (Guatemala City were interviewed using both methods with a seven-day interval. The reproducibility of the results was analysed at both the individual and group levels. The 24-hour-recall method gave consistently higher average values for vitamin A intake, but the median was higher with the frequency method. The correlation coefficients between the repeated interviews were r = .49 for food frequency and r = -.07 for 24-hour-recalls. Diagnostic classification with the two methods was in good agreement at the 750-retinol-equivalents cut-off criterion for adequacy of vitamin A intake, but fell progressively as sequentially lower cutoffs were applied.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Zimorovat ◽  
Fatemeh Moghtaderi ◽  
Mojgan Amiri ◽  
Hamidreza Raeisi-Dehkordi ◽  
Matin Mohyadini ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: To the best of our knowledge, no study has tried to develop and validate a multiple-choice food-based FFQ in Iran using weighed dietary records.This study aimed to investigate the validity and reproducibility of a multiple-choice semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SQ-FFQ) in adults living in central Iran.Methods: Participants attended a large long-term clinical trial were asked to complete three SQ-FFQs by interview, and nine 3-day weighed dietary records (WDRs), over nine months. They provided two blood samples to assess serum calcium, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin C levels. The Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess reproducibility and validity. The degree of misclassification was explored by using a contingency table of quartiles which is compare the information between third FFQ and WDRs. The method of triads was incorporated to assess validity coefficients between estimated intakes using third FFQ, WDRs, and biochemical markers and assumed true intakes.Results: A total of 180 adults aged 48.9±8.4 years completed the study. Compared to WDRs, FFQs overestimated all nutrients intakes except for iron. The median Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.31, 0.44, and 0.38 for FFQ1-FFQ2, FFQ1-FFQ3 and FFQ2-FFQ3, respectively and ICC ranged from 0.43 (thiamin) to 0.73 (vitamin D, median: 0.56). The de-attenuated, age, sex, and education adjusted correlation coefficients ranged from 0.01 for vitamin A to 0.40 for vitamin B12 and -0.05 for vitamin A to 0.41 for manganese (median: 0.17 and 0.26) for FFQ1-WDR and FFQ3-WDR, respectively. The median exact agreement and complete disagreement between FFQ3 and WDRs were 33% and 6%, respectively. The FFQ3 validity coefficients for vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, and zinc were 0.13, 0.62, 0.89, and 0.66, respectively, using the triads method.Conclusions: The SQ-FFQ seems to be an acceptable tool to assess the long-term dietary intake for future large-scale studies in this population.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Zhang ◽  
CW Binns ◽  
AH Lee

This study describes the development and reproducibility of a 128-item quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to measure usual food consumption for women in southeast China. The FFQ was pre-tested using 51 Chinese women who recently migrated to Australia. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.81 for internal consistency. The reliability of the FFQ was then assessed by another test-retest study. A sample of 41 women residing in southeast China was interviewed twice within 12 weeks. Intraclass correlation coefficients were moderate to high for mean food group consumption (0.43-0.96) and mean daily nutrient intakes (0.47-0.89). Kappa statistics for eating habits ranged from 0.27 to 0.89 in the test-retest. The mean ratio of energy intake to basal metabolic rate was 1.73 (S.D. 0.39) in both test and retest samples. The study confirmed that the FFQ method using standard containers is appropriate to assess dietary intake for women in southeast China. Asia Pac J Public Health 2005: 17(1): 29-35.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heloísa Gambarelli de Araújo Azarias ◽  
José Luiz Marques-Rocha ◽  
Aline Elizabeth da Silva Miranda ◽  
Luana Caroline dos Santos ◽  
Ana Luíza Gomes Domingos ◽  
...  

Background: The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is usually used in epidemiological studies to assess food consumption. However, the FFQ must have good accuracy, requiring its validation and reproducibility for the target population. Thus, this study aimed to describe the construction of the online Food Frequency Questionnaire (oFFQ) used at the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais (CUME project, Brazil) and evaluate its validity and reproducibility.Methods: The oFFQ was answered two times in 1 year (March/August 2018—March/April 2019; n = 108 participants—reproducibility), and four 24-h dietary recalls (24hRs) were applied in two seasons of the southern hemisphere [two 24hRs in autumn (March/June 2018) and two 24hRs in winter (August/September 2018); n = 146 participants—validity]. To assess the validity and reproducibility, the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were estimated.Results: The oFFQ had 144 food items separated into eight groups (dairy products; meat and fish; cereals and legumes; fruits; vegetables; fats and oils; drinks; other foods). In assessing the validity, ICCs for energy and macronutrients were considered moderate, ranging from 0.41 (energy) to 0.59 (protein), while the ICCs for micronutrients were considered low to moderate, ranging from 0.25 (fibers) to 0.65 (vitamin B6). Regarding reproducibility assessment, ICCs for energy and all the assessed items were considered moderate to excellent, ranging from 0.60 (vegetables) to 0.91 (vitamin E and retinol).Conclusions: The self-reported oFFQ had satisfactory validity and reproducibility. So, it can be used to analyze the association between food consumption and chronic diseases in the participants of the Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais (CUME project—Brazil).


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