Validity of retrospective diet history: assessing recall of midlife diet using food frequency questionnaire in later life.

• Main Authors: Eysteinsdottir, T, Gunnarsdottir, I, Thorsdottir, I, Harris, T, Launer, L J, Gudnason, V, Steingrimsdottir, L
• Other Authors: Unit for Nutrition Research, University of Iceland and Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2012
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/224952

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field. OBJECTIVES: Limited information exists on the validity of dietary information given by elderly people on their past diet. Here we test the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire asking older persons about their midlife diet. DESIGN: Retrospective food intake of 56-72-year-old subjects was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire designed for the AGES-Reykjavik Study (AGES-FFQ), an epidemiological study of older individuals. Results were compared with detailed dietary data gathered from the same individuals 18-19 years previously, i.e., in midlife, as part of a national cohort. Spearman correlation and cross-classifications were used to assess the ability of the AGES-FFQ to rank subjects according to their intake. SETTING: Nationwide, Iceland. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects, born 1937-1952 (n=174), who participated in the 1990 Icelandic National Dietary Survey. MEASUREMENTS: Dietary intake, estimated by the AGES-FFQ (2008-2009), and dietary history obtained from the 1990 Icelandic National Dietary Survey as a reference method. RESULTS: The strongest correlation between the AGES-FFQ and the reference method was found for cod liver oil, r=0.53, p<0.001 and r=0.56, p<0.001, for men and women, respectively. For men the corresponding correlation coefficient for milk and dairy products was r=0.43, p<0.001. The correlation coefficients were lower but within a reasonably acceptable range (r=0.26-0.40) for meat, fish and potatoes for both genders, as well as fresh fruits and milk/dairy products for women and whole-wheat bread, oatmeal/muesli and blood/liver-sausage for men. No correlation was found between the AGES-FFQ and the dietary history for rye bread and vegetable consumption. Subjects were categorized into five groups according to level of consumption by the two methods. Cross-classification showed that 16-59% were classified into same group and 43-91% into same or adjacent group, ...