Journal of Epidemiology
Online ISSN : 1349-9092
Print ISSN : 0917-5040
ISSN-L : 0917-5040
Original Article
Relative Validity of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire for Assessing Nutrient Intake versus Three-day Weighed Diet Records in Middle-aged Japanese
Yuko TokudomeChiho GotoNahomi ImaedaTakako HasegawaRieko KatoKaoru HiroseKazuo TajimaShinkan Tokudome
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2005 Volume 15 Issue 4 Pages 135-145

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Validation studies on brief food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) for measuring consumption of macro- and micro-nutrients for the general populace are not fully executed in Japan.
METHODS: Two hundred and two middle-aged Japanese (73 males and 129 females) in Aichi Prefecture, Japan completed an FFQ and 3day-weighed diet records (3d-WDRs) in February 2004. We compared intakes of energy and 26 nutrients computed with the FFQ against those with the 3d-WDRs as a reference.
RESULTS: Mean daily intakes of selected nutrients determined with the FFQ were generally less than those with 3d-WDRs. The ratios assessed with the FFQ vs. 3d-WDRs (minimum - median - maximum) were distributed from 0.57 - 0.79 - 1.09 for males, and 0.61 - 0.86 - 1.04 for females. De-attenuated, log-transformed and energy-adjusted Pearson's correlation coefficients between intakes of selected nutrients quantified with both devices were distributed from 0.12 - 0.45 - 0.86 and energy-adjusted Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were from 0.13 - 0.35 - 0.76, for males. The respective values for females were 0.10 - 0.38 - 0.66, and 0.11 - 0.34 - 0.47. Median percentages for exact agreement, agreement within adjacent categories, and disagreement according to quartile classification of the energy-adjusted nutrient intakes measured with both methods were 33, 74, and 5 for males, and 35, 76, and 7 for females, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Satisfactorily high relative validity indices of most nutrient intakes computed with the FFQ were attained against those with the 3d-WDRs. The questionnaire therefore appears applicable for categorizing individuals according to consumption of energy and selected nutrients in dietary studies of middle-aged Japanese.
J Epidemiol 2005;15:135-145.

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© 2005 by Japan Epidemiological Association
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