The DOI matches its Crossref record; 210 of the 214 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Food-frequency questionnaires: a review of their design, validation and utilisation
Open accessAbstract
A review of the literature concerning the design, utilisation and validation of food-frequency questionnaires (FFQ) has been carried out using a semi-systematic approach to obtaining, reviewing and extracting data from articles. Databases were searched from 1980 to 1999. The present review identified 227 validation (from 1980 to September 1999) and 164 utilisation (for 1998 only) studies. A number of design issues have been evaluated through the present review. These include: the need to consider how portion sizes have been described, self-defined giving higher mean correlations; how an FFQ was administered, interviewer-administered giving higher mean correlations for some nutrients; how many items to include on an FFQ, those with the largest number of items having higher correlations. Validation techniques were described. Most validation studies involved comparing an FFQ against another dietary assessment method; only 19 % compared an FFQ to a biomarker. Measurement differences were most commonly assessed by correlation coefficients as opposed to other more appropriate methods. Mean correlation coefficients were highest for Ca and fat, and lowest for vitamin A and vegetables. The utilisation studies showed that FFQ were most commonly used in cross-sectional surveys, with ninety-three of the FFQ being designed to be disease-specific. The present review results were presented to a group of experts and a consensus arrived at concerning the development, validation and use of FFQ. Recommendations derived from the consensus arising from the literature review are presented as an appendix to the present paper.
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“FFQ are generally validated against existing dietary assessment methods, such as WFR [19], and several FFQ have been validated for electronic and online use recently [14,20-22].”
From Online dietary intake estimation: reproducibility and validity of the Food4Me Food frequency questionnaire against a 4-day weighed food record (2014) · cites this paper as [19]
In the citing paper
“Use of tools that allow participants to report their own portion sizes tend to report higher correlation coefficients between repeat administrations [19].”
From Online dietary intake estimation: reproducibility and validity of the Food4Me Food frequency questionnaire against a 4-day weighed food record (2014) · cites this paper as [19]
In the citing paper
“The average reported correlation coefficient for crude total fat intake using FFQs repeated after 1 month or less was .68 [19], which compares very favorably with the correlation coefficient of .81 in the present study, showing above-average performance for the Food4Me FFQ.”
From Online dietary intake estimation: reproducibility and validity of the Food4Me Food frequency questionnaire against a 4-day weighed food record (2014) · cites this paper as [19]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Kobayashi, S., Murakami, K., Sasaki, S., Okubo, H., Hirota, N., Notsu, A., Fukui, M., & Date, C. (2011) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980011000504 · Cited by 882
Aznar, L. A. M., Ral, P. C., Anta, R. M. O., Martín, J. J. D., Baladia, E., Basulto, J., Serrat, S. B., Altaba, I. I., López-Sobaler, A. M., Manera, M., et al. (2013) · PubMed · doi:10.3305/nutrhosp.v28in06.6691 · Cited by 268
Reproducibility and comparative validity of a food frequency questionnaire for Australian adults
Collins, C. E., Boggess, M. M., Watson, J. F., Guest, M., Duncanson, K., Pezdirc, K., Rollo, M., Hutchesson, M. J., & Burrows, T. L. (2014) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2013.09.015 · Cited by 269
Mulligan, A. A., Luben, R., Bhaniani, A., Parry-Smith, D. J., O’Connor, L., Khawaja, A. P., Forouhi, N. G., & Khaw, K. (2014) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004503 · Cited by 263
“We have not addressed or discussed common FFQ issues, such as the number of items in a food list or the use of a single average portion size, as these are not the focus of this paper and have been reviewed previously.(24) 25 It is anticipated that future updates of FETA might contain a number of improvements and overc…”
MethodStreppel, M. T., de Vries, J. H. M., Meijboom, S., Beekman, M., de Craen, A. J. M., Slagboom, P. E., & Feskens, E. J. M. (2013) · Nutrition Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2891-12-75 · Cited by 234
“Therefore, validation studies should be performed to examine the degree to which the FFQ agrees with the subjects’ true intake [3].”
BackgroundResult
Metadata
- Authors
- Cade, J. E., Burley, V. J., Warm, D. L., Thompson, R. L., & Margetts, B. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Leeds (GB)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cade, J. E.
- Venue
- Nutrition Research Reviews
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2004-06
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5-22
- ISSN
- 0954-4224 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2700
- OpenAlex
- W2155756215
- Cited by
- 518
- References
- 214
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 66 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nutrition Research Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutrition and Health Studies
- Keywords
- food frequency questionnaire, dietary assessment, questionnaire design, questionnaire validation, nutrient intake estimation, cross-sectional survey, disease-specific questionnaire, expert consensus recommendations
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