Relative Validity and Reproducibility of a Web-Based Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire in the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health—Next Generations MAX Study

Agnetha Linn Rostgaard-Hansen*, Susanne Rosthøj, Carl Brunius, Sjurdur Frodi Olsen, Anne Ahrendt Bjerregaard, Janet Elisabeth Cade, Anne Tjønneland, Rikard Landberg, Jytte Halkjær

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) is designed to capture an individual’s habitual dietary intake and is the most applied method in nutritional epidemiology. Our aim was to assess the relative validity and reproducibility of the FFQ used in the Diet, Cancer, and Health—Next Generations cohort (DCH-NG). We included 415 Danish women and men aged 18–67 years. Spearman’s correlations coefficients, Bland–Altman limits of agreement and cross-classification between dietary intakes estimated from the FFQ administered at baseline (FFQbaseline), and the mean of three 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) and the FFQ administered after 12 months (FFQ12 months) were determined. Nutrient intakes were energy-adjusted by Nutrient Density and Residual methods. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.18–0.58 for energy and energy-adjusted nutrient intakes, and the percentage of participants classified into the same quartile ranged from 28–47% between the FFQbaseline and the 24-HDRs. For the FFQ12 months compared with FFQbaseline, correlation coefficients ranged from 0.52–0.88 for intakes of energy, energy-adjusted nutrients, and food groups, and the proportion of participants classified into the same quartiles ranged from 43–69%. Overall, the FFQ provided a satisfactory ranking of individuals according to energy, nutrient, and food group intakes, making the FFQ suitable for use in epidemiological studies investigating diet in relation to disease outcomes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2389
JournalNutrients
Volume15
Issue number10
Number of pages19
ISSN2072-6643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • 24-h dietary recall
  • cancer
  • diet
  • epidemiology
  • food frequency questionnaire
  • nutrition
  • relative validity
  • reproducibility
  • web-based

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