Reproducibility and relative validity of a FFQ to estimate the intake of fatty acids

Abstract

We investigated the validity and reproducibility of the FFQ used in the Dutch European Investigation of Cancer and Nutrition cohort, in order to rank subjects according to intakes of fatty acid classes and individual fatty acids. In total, 121 men and women (23-72 years) filled out three FFQ at 6-month intervals between 1991 and 1992. As a reference method, they filled out twelve monthly 24-h dietary recalls (24HDR) during the same year. Intra-class correlation coefficients for the FFQ showed moderate to good reproducibility across all fatty acids (classes and individual) in men (0·56-0·81) and women (0·57-0·83). In men, Spearman's correlation coefficients (r s ) for the FFQ compared with the 24HDR indicated moderate to good relative validity (r s = 0·45-0·71) for all fatty acids, except for arachidonic acid and marine PUFA (r s < 0·40). In women, relative validity was moderate to good for MUFA and trans-fatty acids (TFA) and the majority of SFA (r s = 0·40-0·66), was fair for the short-chain SFA and lauric acid (r s = 0·30-0·33) and was fair to moderate for PUFA (r s = 0·22-0·47). Bland-Altman plots showed good agreement between the FFQ and 24HDR, and proportional bias for fatty acids with very low intakes. In conclusion, the FFQ showed good reproducibility for subject ranking based on intakes of fatty acids (classes and individual). The relative validity measures indicated that the FFQ is an adequate tool to rank subjects according to intakes of high-abundant fatty acids, but less for low-abundant fatty acids.

Intake of dietary saturated fatty acids and risk of type 2 diabetes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands cohort: associations by types, sources of fatty acids and substitution by macronutrients

“…The FFQ was validated against 12 24-h recalls between both genders before the start of the study [ 18 ]. Spearman’s correlation coefficients for intake of total SFA and individual SFA ranged from 0.53 to 0.71 in men and from 0.30 to 0.66 in women [ 19 ].…”

“…The intake of individual SFA was calculated from the Dutch food composition table 1998 (digital update). Using the analogy of a previous research [ 19 ], seven independent predefined food groups were identified which together contribute > 82% of the mean total SFA intake in the study population: butter, cheese, milk and milk products, meat, cakes, snacks and fats. The group of fats was separated into two subgroups based on their SFA content: hard and solid fats (including margarines and fats in wrappers and solid frying fats, all of which contained ≥ 20 g SFA/100 g of the product) and soft and liquid fats (including soft margarines, vegetable oils, liquid fats, and frying oils, all of which contained < 20 g SFA/100 g of the product).…”

Fatty acids from dairy and meat and their association with risk of coronary heart disease

“…Validity of the FFQ was assessed by comparison with 12 24 h recalls among 121 men and women. In men, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients showed good validity for milk and milk products (0.69), moderate validity for cheese (0.56), fair validity for meat (0.39) [22] and good to moderate validity for the intake of FA (SFA 0.55, MUFA 0.66, PUFA 0.52) [24]. In women, the validity was good for milk and milk products (0.77), fair for cheese (0.32), moderate for meat (0.59) [22] and moderate to fair for the intake of FA (SFA 0.50, MUFA 0.58, PUFA 0.22) [24].…”

Development and Validation of a Semiquantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Dietary Intake in 40–65-Year-Old Mexican Women

“…Estimated intake of energy, macronutrients, and micronutrients from FFQ was higher and substantial than the reference method (24hR), which has been usually applied in studies of development and validation of FFQ in adult female populations in several countries, including Mexico [10,18,[21][22][23][24]26].…”