Validity and Reproducibility of a Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire for a Cohort Study in Japan

Abstract

Background: A self-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire (ax) was developed for a population-based cohort study on cancer in Takayama, Japan.Methods: The ax was tested among 58 male and 59 female volunteers. Average daily nutrient intakes for the previous year calculated from the ax were compared with those from 3-day food records and four 24-h recalls. The ax was also validated among 37 volunteers by comparing the nutrient intakes calculated from the ax with 12 1-day food records during a year. We also calculated the intra-class correlation coefficients for various nutrients between the ax and the second ax administered by the same volunteers 1 year after the first survey.Results: Pearson correlation coefficients between total energy from the ax and 3-day records were 0.38 for men and 0.25 for women and those between the ax and 24-h recalls were 0.19 and -0.02 for men and women, respectively. Correlations between the several nutrients from the ax and 3-day records ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 for both men and women. These correlations after energy adjustment ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 for men and from 0.1 to 0.7 for women. In general, the correlations for various nutrients between the ax and 12 1-day records were higher than those described above. The intra-class correlation coefficients ranged from 0.46 to 0.78 in men and from 0.36 to 0.67, except for vitamin C in women. When the information on portion size was excluded, almost all of the above indices showed somewhat lower figures.Conclusion: These results suggest that our food frequency questionnaire with portion size information can be used to estimate nutrient intakes of each individual.

Reproducibility of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire for Japanese General Population

“…This probably reflects their wide selection of foods/food groups and their active and free lifestyle. On the other hand, contrary to the report of Shimizu et al, 18 higher reproducibility values were noted in elderly people, which might be expected due to the fact that they lead rather traditional and ordinary lives, including dietary habits. 19 Although women are generally more interested in the foods they eat and cook than men, there were no remarkable differences in reproducibility figures for foods and nutrients between sexes in the present study.…”

Height, weight, and alcohol consumption in relation to the risk of colorectal cancer in Japan: a prospective study

“…Individual nutrient intake was estimated based upon the frequency of intake and portion size using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan, 5th edition, published by the Science and Technology Agency of Japan. Details including results of validity tests are described elsewhere (Shimizu et al, 1999).…”

Associations of menstrual pain with intakes of soy, fat and dietary fiber in Japanese women

“…Fatty acid composition was evaluated using data published by Sasaki et al (1999). Detailed information on the questionnaire including its validity and reproducibility has been described elsewhere (Shimizu, 1996;Shimizu et al, 1999;Nagata et al, 2001). For example, the Spearman correlation coefficients comparing estimates of soy product intake from this questionnaire with the estimates from 12 daily diet records kept over a year period was 0.68.…”