Self-administered diet history questionnaire developed for health education: A relative validation of the test-version by comparison with 3-day diet record in women

Abstract

A self-administered diet history questionnaire has been developed for the use in health education in Japan. The relative validity of the test-version was examined using 3-day diet record (DR) as a reference method. Subjects were mildly hypèrcholesterolemic 47 women aged 38-69 years living in Hikone, Japan. The questionnaire provided close estimation of nutrients compared to the DR (mean of the 3-days), 1-25 % differences between the two methods were observed for total energy and 17 nutrients examined. The differences were in general smaller for macronutrients, 1-3 %, than for micronutrients, 1-25 %. Pearson correlation coefficients between the questionnaire and the DR (mean of the 3-days) ranged from 0.16 for niacin to 0.60 for saturated fatty acid (mean = 0.41). The energy-adjustment using regression analysis and the correction of attenuation due to error from a limited number of days of DR slightly improved the results. The correlations ranged from 0.19 for niacin to 0.75 for saturated fatty acid (mean = 0.48). Average 37 and 6 % subjects were classified into same quartile and opposite quartile respectively between the two methods. This questionnaire may be useful to assess individual.