Comparison of Interviewer-Administered and Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Recalls in 3 Diverse Integrated Health Systems

Abstract

Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls provide high-quality intake data but have been prohibitively expensive for large epidemiologic studies. This study's goal was to assess whether the web-based Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Recall (ASA24) performs similarly enough to the standard interviewer-administered, Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM) 24-hour dietary recall to be considered a viable alternative. In 2010-2011, 1,081 adults from 3 integrated health systems in Detroit, Michigan; Marshfield, Wisconsin; and Kaiser-Permanente Northern California participated in a field trial. A quota design ensured a diverse sample by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Each participant was asked to complete 2 recalls and was randomly assigned to 1 of 4 protocols differing by type of recall and administration order. For energy, the mean intakes were 2,425 versus 2,374 kcal for men and 1,876 versus 1,906 kcal for women by AMPM and ASA24, respectively. Of 20 nutrients/food groups analyzed and controlling for false discovery rate, 87% were judged equivalent at the 20% bound. ASA24 was preferred over AMPM by 70% of the respondents. Attrition was lower in the ASA24/AMPM study group than in the AMPM/ASA24 group, and it was lower in the ASA24/ASA24 group than in the AMPM/AMPM group. ASA24 offers the potential to collect high-quality dietary intake information at low cost with less attrition.

The Use of Digital Images in 24-Hour Recalls May Lead to Less Misestimation of Portion Size Compared with Traditional Interviewer-Administered Recalls

“…In addition, the ASA24 requires access to high-speed internet, which may limit its use in certain circumstances, although this is likely to be less of an issue moving forward with continued advances in technology. A large community-based study conducted in adults with known Internet access showed that participants had high completion rates of 2 nonconsecutive recalls with the use of either interviewer-administered AMPM or ASA24 recalls, and that respondents overwhelmingly preferred the ASA24 to interviewer-administered recalls (27). This suggests that the ASA24 may be viable for use in a range of studies.…”

Measuring diet in the 21st century: use of new technologies

“…Depending on the system the tools require more or less input from the user. On the whole, users prefer the new technology approach to the traditional interviewer or paper-based systems (6,(13)(14)(15)(16) . However, this may depend on technology readiness and experience with online systems (1,16) .…”

Validation of a newly automated web-based 24-hour dietary recall using fully controlled feeding studies

“…Some studies have shown that, compared with the traditional interview, web-based 24-h recall generates equivalent results with a reduced precision for some nutrients [6,19,20]. However, the preference for the web-based version was highlighted by many researchers.…”