BackgroundThere is a great necessity for new methods of evaluation of dietary intake that overcome the limitations of traditional self-reporting methods.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to develop a new method, based on an app for mobile phones called e-EPIDEMIOLOGY, which was designed to collect individual consumption data for a series of foods/drinks, and to compare this app with a previously validated paper food frequency questionnaire (FFQ).MethodsUniversity students >18 years of age recorded the consumption of certain foods/drinks using e-EPIDEMIOLOGY during 28 consecutive days and then filled out a paper FFQ at the end of the study period. To evaluate the agreement between the categories of habitual consumption for each of the foods/drinks included in the study, cross-classification analysis and a weighted kappa statistic were used.ResultsA total of 119 participants completed the study (71% female, 85/119; 29% male, 34/119). Cross-classification analysis showed that 79.8% of the participants were correctly classified into the same category and just 1.1% were misclassified into opposite categories. The average weighted kappa statistic was good (κ=.64).ConclusionsThe results indicate that e-EPIDEMIOLOGY generated ranks of dietary intakes that were highly comparable with the previously validated paper FFQ. However, it was noted that further testing of e-EPIDEMIOLOGY is required to establish its wider utility.

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Background and objectives: alcohol use disorders are associated with a greater incidence of certain comorbidities in patients with celiac disease. Currently there is no available information about the impact that these disorders may have on length of hospital stays, overexpenditures during hospital stays, and excess mortality in these patients.Methods: a case-control study was conducted with a selection of patients 18 years and older hospitalized during 2008-2010 in 87 hospitals in Spain. Estimations of excess length of stays, costs, and attributable mortality were calculated using a multivariate analysis of covariance, which included age, gender, hospital group, alcohol use disorders, tobacco related disease and 30 other comorbidities.Results: patients who had both celiac disease and alcohol use disorders had an increased length of hospital stay, an average of 3.1 days longer in women, and 1.7 days longer in men. Excess costs per stay ranged from 838.7 euros in female patients, to 389.1 euros in male patients. Excess attributable mortality was 15.1 % in women, 12.2 % in men.Conclusions: apart from a gluten-free diet and other medical measures, the prevention of alcohol abuse is indicated in these patients. Patients hospitalized who present these disorders should receive specialized attention after leaving the hospital. Early detection and treatment should be used to prevent the appearance of organic lesions and should not be solely focused on male patients.