Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents
Innovative tools for assessing food and nutrient intakes in adolescence are essential to uncover the long-term effects of diet on chronic diseases. Here, we developed and compared a web-based self-administered food frequency questionnaire (web-FFQ) with a traditional interviewer printed FFQ (print-F...
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doaj-a8d31f60ec8c466e85bf1f4a51f0f7322020-11-25T01:16:17ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012019-06-011611194910.3390/ijerph16111949ijerph16111949Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian AdolescentsMartina Barchitta0Andrea Maugeri1Ottavia Agrifoglio2Giuliana Favara3Claudia La Mastra4Maria Clara La Rosa5Roberta Magnano San Lio6Antonella Agodi7Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies “GF Ingrassia”, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, ItalyInnovative tools for assessing food and nutrient intakes in adolescence are essential to uncover the long-term effects of diet on chronic diseases. Here, we developed and compared a web-based self-administered food frequency questionnaire (web-FFQ) with a traditional interviewer printed FFQ (print-FFQ) among 174 Italian adolescents (aged 15−18 years). To assess the reliability of the web-FFQ compared with the print-FFQ, we used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients, Wilcoxon rank test, quartile misclassification analysis, Cohen’s weighted kappa and the Bland−Altman method. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.14 (i.e., pizza) to 0.67 (i.e., raw vegetables) for foods, and from 0.45 (i.e., monounsaturated fatty acids, MUFA) to 0.62 (i.e., zinc) for nutrients. Results from the Wilcoxon rank test showed that food and nutrient intakes were comparable between two FFQs, except for nuts, shellfish, fruit juices and MUFA. Adolescents classified into the same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 68.2% (i.e., tea) to 89.1% (i.e., raw vegetables and dipping sauces) for foods, and from 77.2% (i.e., vitamin C) to 87.2% (i.e., folate and calcium) for nutrients. Except for pizza, the weighted kappa indicated moderate to substantial agreement for other foods and nutrients. Finally, we demonstrated that the web-FFQ significantly overestimated shellfish and fruit juice intakes, while it underestimated nuts, canned fish, olive oil, total energy intake, fatty acids and calcium. The limits of agreement analysis indicated moderate to wide individual differences for all groups. In conclusion, our self-administered web-FFQ represents an easy, suitable and cost-effective tool for assessing food and nutrient intakes in adolescents. However, the wide individual differences in level of agreement suggest that additional refinements and calibrations are necessary to investigate the effects of absolute nutrient intakes at the individual level.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/11/1949dietary assessmentepidemiologynutritionpublic healthadolescencefoodsnutrients |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Martina Barchitta Andrea Maugeri Ottavia Agrifoglio Giuliana Favara Claudia La Mastra Maria Clara La Rosa Roberta Magnano San Lio Antonella Agodi |
spellingShingle |
Martina Barchitta Andrea Maugeri Ottavia Agrifoglio Giuliana Favara Claudia La Mastra Maria Clara La Rosa Roberta Magnano San Lio Antonella Agodi Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health dietary assessment epidemiology nutrition public health adolescence foods nutrients |
author_facet |
Martina Barchitta Andrea Maugeri Ottavia Agrifoglio Giuliana Favara Claudia La Mastra Maria Clara La Rosa Roberta Magnano San Lio Antonella Agodi |
author_sort |
Martina Barchitta |
title |
Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents |
title_short |
Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents |
title_full |
Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents |
title_fullStr |
Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparison of Self-Administered Web-Based and Interviewer Printed Food Frequency Questionnaires for Dietary Assessment in Italian Adolescents |
title_sort |
comparison of self-administered web-based and interviewer printed food frequency questionnaires for dietary assessment in italian adolescents |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2019-06-01 |
description |
Innovative tools for assessing food and nutrient intakes in adolescence are essential to uncover the long-term effects of diet on chronic diseases. Here, we developed and compared a web-based self-administered food frequency questionnaire (web-FFQ) with a traditional interviewer printed FFQ (print-FFQ) among 174 Italian adolescents (aged 15−18 years). To assess the reliability of the web-FFQ compared with the print-FFQ, we used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients, Wilcoxon rank test, quartile misclassification analysis, Cohen’s weighted kappa and the Bland−Altman method. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.14 (i.e., pizza) to 0.67 (i.e., raw vegetables) for foods, and from 0.45 (i.e., monounsaturated fatty acids, MUFA) to 0.62 (i.e., zinc) for nutrients. Results from the Wilcoxon rank test showed that food and nutrient intakes were comparable between two FFQs, except for nuts, shellfish, fruit juices and MUFA. Adolescents classified into the same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 68.2% (i.e., tea) to 89.1% (i.e., raw vegetables and dipping sauces) for foods, and from 77.2% (i.e., vitamin C) to 87.2% (i.e., folate and calcium) for nutrients. Except for pizza, the weighted kappa indicated moderate to substantial agreement for other foods and nutrients. Finally, we demonstrated that the web-FFQ significantly overestimated shellfish and fruit juice intakes, while it underestimated nuts, canned fish, olive oil, total energy intake, fatty acids and calcium. The limits of agreement analysis indicated moderate to wide individual differences for all groups. In conclusion, our self-administered web-FFQ represents an easy, suitable and cost-effective tool for assessing food and nutrient intakes in adolescents. However, the wide individual differences in level of agreement suggest that additional refinements and calibrations are necessary to investigate the effects of absolute nutrient intakes at the individual level. |
topic |
dietary assessment epidemiology nutrition public health adolescence foods nutrients |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/11/1949 |
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