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Estimating dietary intakes from a brief questionnaire: A simulation study of reliability in a molecular epidemiologic study of pancreatic and biliary diseases

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Abstract

Introduction

Brief dietary questionnaires may be useful in research or clinical settings where in-depth assessments are inefficient or impractical. We conducted a simulation study to assess the reliability of a brief food frequency questionnaire (bFFQ) for capturing dietary intakes relative to a detailed survey.

Subjects and methods

The bFFQ was used in a study of patients with pancreatic and biliary diseases in eastern Spain (n = 605). The structured interview included a section probing the frequency of intakes of 14 food groups, using 4 response categories. Data from a 93-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ) with 9 response categories (n = 1337) was used to: (1) develop estimates of nutrient intakes for each food group, and (2) to simulate how intakes would have been estimated using the bFFQ. The simulation allowed to assess effects of aggregating foods and using abbreviated frequency categories.

Results

Correlations between actual and simulated intake frequencies exceeded 0.70 for 10 food groups; modest correlations (0.43–0.56) were observed for groups assessed less well using abbreviated frequency categories. Correlations exceeded 0.60 for most nutrients. Concordance was lower for several nutrients, notably retinol, for which substantial proportions were contributed by groups combining foods with highly variable levels of these compounds.

Conclusions

Intake estimates from the bFFQ may be useful in exploratory analyses of the role of diet in bilio-pancreatic diseases and related etiopathogenic events. Estimates for some nutrients may be less reliable, and should be interpreted with particular caution.

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Abbreviations

FFQ:

food frequency questionnaire

SFFQ:

semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire

bFFQ:

brief food frequency questionnaire

ENSCV:

’Encuesta de Nutrición y Salud de la Comunidad Valenciana’ (Nutrition and Health Survey of the Valencian Community); PANKRAS II Study and PANKRAS = Multicentre prospective study on the role of K-ras and other genetic alterations in the diagnosis, prognosis and etiology of pancreatic and biliary diseases; FCT = food composition table; RE = Retinol Equivalents (1 RE = 1 mcg = 5 IU of vitamin A)

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Acknowledgements

Supported by research grants from Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT SAF 2000–0097), Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (95/0017), Madrid, Spain; Generalitat de Catalunya (CIRIT SGR 0241, SGR 0078 and 1998/BEAi 400011); ‚Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Cáncer’ (C03/10); ‚Red temática de investigación cooperativa de centros en Epidemiología y salud pública’ (C03/09), Instituto de Salud Carlos III; and Oficina de Ciencia␣y Tecnología, Generalitat Valenciana (Grupos 03/136). The authors gratefully acknowledge technical and scientific assistance provided by José Pumarega, Esteve Fernandez, David J. MacFarlane, Joy Ngo and Isabel Egea.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Català d’Oncologia, Barcelona, Spain

    Michelle A. Mendez

  2. Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica, Barcelona, Spain

    Michelle A. Mendez, Miquel Porta, Eva Morales, Tomàs López, Núria Malats & Marta Crous

  3. Department of Public Health, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alacant, Spain

    Jesús Vioque

  4. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Miquel Porta & Luis I. Gómez

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Luis I. Gómez

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  1. Michelle A. Mendez
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Consortia

for the PANKRAS II Study Group*

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miquel Porta.

Additional information

*Members of the Multicentre Prospective Study on the Role of K-ras and other Genetic Alterations in the Diagnosis, Prognosis and Etiology of Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases (PANKRAS II) Study Group are mentioned in previous publications.

Appendix Table A1.

Appendix Table A1.

Construction of food composition table (FCT) for food group intakes: dairy products

Appendix Table A1. Construction of food composition table (FCT) for food group intakes: dairy products
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Mendez, M.A., Vioque, J., Porta, M. et al. Estimating dietary intakes from a brief questionnaire: A simulation study of reliability in a molecular epidemiologic study of pancreatic and biliary diseases. Eur J Epidemiol 21, 417–426 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-006-9020-2

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