Validation of a new hand-held electronic data capture method for continuous monitoring of subjective appetite sensations

Abstract

BackgroundWhen large scale trials are investigating the effects of interventions on appetite, it is paramount to efficiently monitor large amounts of human data. The original hand-held Electronic Appetite Ratings System (EARS) was designed to facilitate the administering and data management of visual analogue scales (VAS) of subjective appetite sensations. The purpose of this study was to validate a novel hand-held method (EARS II (HP® iPAQ)) against the standard Pen and Paper (P&P) method and the previously validated EARS.MethodsTwelve participants (5 male, 7 female, aged 18-40) were involved in a fully repeated measures design. Participants were randomly assigned in a crossover design, to either high fat (>48% fat) or low fat (<28% fat) meal days, one week apart and completed ratings using the three data capture methods ordered according to Latin Square. The first set of appetite sensations was completed in a fasted state, immediately before a fixed breakfast. Thereafter, appetite sensations were completed every thirty minutes for 4h. An ad libitum lunch was provided immediately before completing a final set of appetite sensations.ResultsRepeated measures ANOVAs were conducted for ratings of hunger, fullness and desire to eat. There were no significant differences between P&P compared with either EARS or EARS II (p > 0.05). Correlation coefficients between P&P and EARS II, controlling for age and gender, were performed on Area Under the Curve ratings. R2 for Hunger (0.89), Fullness (0.96) and Desire to Eat (0.95) were statistically significant (p < 0.05).ConclusionsEARS II was sensitive to the impact of a meal and recovery of appetite during the postprandial period and is therefore an effective device for monitoring appetite sensations. This study provides evidence and support for further validation of the novel EARS II method for monitoring appetite sensations during large scale studies. The added versatility means that future uses of the system provides the potential to monitor a range of other behavioural and physiological measures often important in clinical and free living trials.This study was registered as a clinical trial by Current Controlled Trials (Registration Number - ISRCTN47291569).

Postprandial profiles of CCK after high fat and high carbohydrate meals and the relationship to satiety in humans

“…There was no effect of macronutrient condition on changes in hunger levels throughout the morning (F (1,15) =0.505, p=0.488) or a condition*time interaction (F (6,90) =0.540, p=0.645). There was an effect of time (F (6,90) =33.387, p<0.001) with hunger being suppressed immediately following food consumption before a gradual rise 30 minutes post-meal consumption until the lunch meal.…”

“…There was an effect of time (F (6,90) =33.387, p<0.001) with hunger being suppressed immediately following food consumption before a gradual rise 30 minutes post-meal consumption until the lunch meal. Similarly, there was no difference in the effect of the two meals on fullness levels (F (1,15) =2.277, p=0.152) and no condition*time interaction (F (6,90) =1.240, p=0.306). However, there was a significant effect of time (F (6,90) =30.615, p<0.001) with both breakfasts stimulating an immediate rise in fullness levels before a steady decline until the lunch meal ( figure 3 reproduced from [14]).…”

“…We recently developed a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) based system to measure various appetite ratings which has been validated against the standard pen and paper technique and an alternative handheld computer system [15]. Questions regarding the state of hunger and fullness were assessed using descriptive anchors at either end of the horizontal line ('not at all' to 'extremely').…”

Desarrollo y validación de una aplicación para smartphones para analizar variables subjetivas de apetito

“…The 15 subjects were evaluated in 2 experimental days, separated by 7 days. All participants performed two identical experimental procedures using both high carbohydrates (HC) and high fat (HF) meal manipulations, in alternative sequence as previously designed by a Latin square procedure (8).Secondly, these subjects followed a free-living experiment in which they were invited to assess their appetite sensations every 30 minutes during waking hours.…”

Nutrients, satiety, and control of energy intake

“…A recent analysis of 23 randomized controlled studies showed that VAS scores recorded for 30 min to 5 h following the intake of a preload significantly predict energy intake at the next meal (Sadoul et al 2014). Electronic devices, such as the validated hand-held Electronic Appetite Rating System (Gibbons et al 2011), now facilitate the acquisition of repeated ratings over the postprandial period. Taken together, these observations suggest that even if there is no standardized clinical best practice for the measurement of satiety, the use of VAS scores has high relevance.…”