Temporal Change in the Reproducibility of a Self-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire
Abstract
The authors studied temporal change in the reproducibility of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. During 1988-1994, 492 residents of a rural Japanese town completed five questionnaires including 27 food items, with intervals ranging from 2 weeks through 5.5 years. The reproducibility decreased steadily over time for pairs of the questionnaires administered in the same season (median Spearman's r at 2 weeks and 5 years = 0.62 and 0.28, respectively). The reduction was less marked for those surveyed in different seasons (median r at 5 months and 5.5 years = 0.35 and 0.28, respectively). The short-term, different season correlation at 5 months was lower than the short-term, same season correlation at 1 year. For individual food items, a lower initial reproducibility, infrequent consumption, and a larger difference in seasonal intake were associated with a greater reduction in reproducibility over time. The results indicate that reproducibility studies should deliberately choose the intervals and the seasons for surveys.
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Tsubono et al found that correlation coefficients tended to be lower when FFQ were repeated after a long time interval (6 months to 1 year) compared with a shorter time interval (1 to 6 months).
“Tsubono et al [40] found that correlation coefficients tended to be lower when FFQ were repeated after a long time interval (6 months to 1 year) compared with a shorter time interval (1 to 6 months), and proposed that the temporal difference may be due to changes in dietary habits which are more likely to occur with longer time intervals.”
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 [40]
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Cui, Q., Xia, Y., Wu, Q., Chang, Q., Niu, K., & Zhao, Y. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13558393
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Cui, Q., Xia, Y., Wu, Q., Chang, Q., Niu, K., & Zhao, Y. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13558342
- Authors
- Tsubono, Y., Nishino, Y., Fukao, A., Hisamichi, S., & Tsugane, S.
- Affiliations
- Tohoku University (JP)
- National Cancer Center Hospital East (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Nishino, Yoshikazu
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1995-12-01
- Volume
- 142
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1231-1235
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- OpenAlex
- W2323290971
- Cited by
- 73
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
- Keywords
- food frequency questionnaire, reproducibility, temporal stability, self-administered questionnaire, dietary assessment
- MeSH terms
- Epidemiologic Methods, Female, Food, Humans, Male, Nutrition Surveys, Surveys and Questionnaires, Seasons, Reproducibility of Results, Linear Models
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