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PrimeScreen, a brief dietary screening tool: reproducibility and comparability with both a longer food frequency questionnaire and biomarkers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2007

Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman ,
Walter C Willett ,
Rebecca Lobb ,
Jamie Kotch ,
Charles Dart  and
Matthew W Gillman
Sheryl L Rifas-Shiman
Affiliation:
Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Walter C Willett
Affiliation:
Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Rebecca Lobb
Affiliation:
Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Jamie Kotch
Affiliation:
Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Charles Dart
Affiliation:
Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Matthew W Gillman*
Affiliation:
Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Email matthew-gillman@hms.harvard.edu
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Abstract

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Objective

Diet is an important determinant of health outcomes, but physicians have few ways to identify persons with suboptimal diets. The purposes of this study were to examine the reproducibility of a short dietary assessment questionnaire (PrimeScreen) and to compare its results with those of a longer food frequency questionnaire and with plasma levels of selected nutrients.

Design

Each subject completed two PrimeScreen questionnaires at an interval of 2 weeks and one full length, 131-item, semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ), and had a sample of blood drawn. We compared the PrimeScreen with two reference standards, the SFFQ and plasma levels of selected nutrients.

Setting

A large managed care organization in New England.

Subjects

A total of 160 men and women, aged 19–65 years, participated.

Results

For foods and food groups, the mean correlation coefficient (r) was 0.70 for reproducibility and 0.61 for comparability with the SFFQ. For nutrients, the mean r was 0.74 for reproducibility and 0.60 for comparability with the SFFQ. No substantial differences were evident by sex, race, body mass index, occupation or education. Correlation coefficients for the comparison of vitamin E, β-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin intakes from the PrimeScreen with plasma levels were 0.33, 0.43 and 0.43, respectively. These values were similar to those comparing the SFFQ with plasma levels. The median time to complete PrimeScreen was 5 min; 87% of participants required fewer than 10 min.

Conclusions

A quick way to assess quality of diet among adults, PrimeScreen has adequate reproducibility and its results compare well with a longer food frequency questionnaire and biomarkers.

Keywords

DietReproducibilityValidityScreening

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , April 2001 , pp. 249 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

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