Food Frequency Questionnaire as a Screening Test

Abstract

We assessed the accuracy of a 141-item food frequency questionnaire as a screening test to detect high or low consumption of nutrients associated with cancer. Fifty-five men and 58 women participating in two population-based cohort studies in Miyagi, Japan, provided four three-day diet records over a one-year period and subsequently completed the questionnaire twice with a one-year interval. Pearson correlation coefficients between 17 nutrients measured by the diet records and the first questionnaire ranged from 0.24 to 0.85 (median 0.43), and those between the two questionnaires ranged from 0.47 to 0.91 (median 0.68). The sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire for detecting high-alcohol, high-fat, low-calcium, and low-ascorbic acid consumers were 86.7% and 96.7%, 50.0% and 85.7%, 48.8% and 76.4%, and 61.9% and 70.0%, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curves indicated comparable performance of the questionnaire and a three-day diet record, regarded as another screening test. The questionnaire performed poorly for other nutrients. The results indicate that our questionnaire is reasonably reproducible, comparable with the diet records, and useful as a screening test to detect high or low consumers of several nutrients associated with cancer for subsequent enrollment in dietary intervention trials or dietary counseling.

Aldosterone-to-renin ratio and home blood pressure in subjects with higher and lower sodium intake: the Ohasama Study

“…20 Long-term sodium and potassium intakes A standardized method was used to calculate food consumption and related nutrients from data obtained in a Japanese version of the food-frequency questionnaire, which asked about the average frequency of consumption of each food during the previous year. 21 We previously confirmed that the foodfrequency questionnaire is reasonably reproducible and comparable with diet records, taking into account seasonal variations in food consumption. 21 A standard portion size of one serving was specified for each food, and respondents were asked if their usual portion was larger (41.5 times), the same or smaller (o0.5 times) than the standard.…”

“…21 We previously confirmed that the foodfrequency questionnaire is reasonably reproducible and comparable with diet records, taking into account seasonal variations in food consumption. 21 A standard portion size of one serving was specified for each food, and respondents were asked if their usual portion was larger (41.5 times), the same or smaller (o0.5 times) than the standard. We then estimated sodium and potassium intakes.…”

“…We obtained data on sodium intake from the 1-year food-frequency questionnaire, which has been validated by a standard procedure from the viewpoint of nutriology. 21,22 However, the validation was not confirmed by direct comparison with urinary sodium excretion. This might weaken the interaction between logARR and sodium intake on HBP observed in this study.…”

“…We then estimated sodium and potassium intakes. 21,22 Estimated GFR (eGFR) was estimated from the serum creatinine using a Japanese equation. 23 …”

High fruit intake is associated with a lower risk of future hypertension determined by home blood pressure measurement: the OHASAMA study

“…The reproducibility and validity of this questionnaire were previously reported in detail. 29,30 The questionnaire asked about the average frequency of intake of each food during the previous year according to nine frequency categories ranging from no consumption to X7 times per day. A standard portion size of one serving was specified for each food, and respondents were asked whether their usual portion was larger (41.5 times), the same or smaller (o0.5) than the standard.…”