Assessing validity of a short food frequency questionnaire on present dietary intake of elderly Icelanders.

• Published in: Nutrition Journal
• Main Authors: Eysteinsdottir, Tinna, Thorsdottir, Inga, Gunnarsdottir, Ingibjorg, Steingrimsdottir, Laufey
• Other Authors: Unit for Nutrition Research, University of Iceland and Landspitali National-University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Aged; Animals; Cod Liver Oil; Coffee; Dairy Products; Diet; Diet Records; Diet Surveys; Energy Intake; Female; Food Habits; Fruit; Geriatric Assessment; Humans; Iceland; Interviews as Topic; Male; Meat; Nutrition Assessment; Questionnaires; Sex Factors; Tea; Vegetables
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/239891; https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-11-12

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field. Few studies exist on the validity of food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) administered to elderly people. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of a short FFQ on present dietary intake, developed specially for the AGES-Reykjavik Study, which includes 5,764 elderly individuals. Assessing the validity of FFQs is essential before they are used in studies on diet-related disease risk and health outcomes. 128 healthy elderly participants (74 y ± 5.7; 58.6% female) answered the AGES-FFQ, and subsequently filled out a 3-day weighed food record. Validity of the AGES-FFQ was assessed by comparing its answers to the dietary data obtained from the weighed food records, using Spearman's rank correlation, Chi-Square/Kendall's tau, and a Jonckheere-Terpstra test for trend. For men a correlation ≥ 0.4 was found for potatoes, fresh fruits, oatmeal/muesli, cakes/cookies, candy, dairy products, milk, pure fruit juice, cod liver oil, coffee, tea and sugar in coffee/tea (r = 0.40-0.71). A lower, but acceptable, correlation was also found for raw vegetables (r = 0.33). The highest correlation for women was found for consumption of rye bread, oatmeal/muesli, raw vegetables, candy, dairy products, milk, pure fruit juice, cod liver oil, coffee and tea (r = 0.40-0.61). An acceptable correlation was also found for fish topping/salad, fresh fruit, blood/liver sausage, whole-wheat bread, and sugar in coffee/tea (r = 0.28-0.37). Questions on meat/fish meals, cooked vegetables and soft drinks did not show a significant correlation to the reference method. Pearson Chi-Square and Kendall's tau showed similar results, as did the Jonckheere-Terpstra trend test. A majority of the questions in the AGES-FFQ had an acceptable correlation and may be used to rank individuals according to their level of intake of several important foods/food groups. The AGES-FFQ on present diet may therefore be used to study the relationship ...