3 results
Development and feasibility testing of the smartphone-based dietary record app NutriDiary (beta version)
- Johanna Conrad, Mats Wiese, Ionut Andone, Stefanie Koch, Alexander Markowetz, Ute Alexy, Ute Nöthlings
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 79 / Issue OCE2 / 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 June 2020, E84
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Smartphone technology has the potential to facilitate dietary assessment in epidemiological studies. Measurement error might be reduced by real time recording being more feasible with mobile methods. Our aim was to develop NutriDiary, a smartphone app for conducting three-day weighed dietary records. It provides a digital version of the established pen-and-paper method in the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study, an open cohort study from infancy to adulthood. NutriDiary was developed as a text-based app including brand specific recording of food products. Usability of the beta version of NutriDiary was evaluated in the DONALD study. Participants or their parents were offered to test the app for the annual dietary record and were asked to fill in an app-integrated evaluation questionnaire. Usability was assessed by the System Usability Scale (SUS) and in-app behavior recordings. In the beta version of NutriDiary, a consumed food item is selected using a free-text search from the integrated in-house database LEBTAB. To ease the process of recording, NutriDiary offers some usability features such as a recipe editor, an integrated help mode and a photo function for collecting information on branded food products. In total, 32 mostly female participants (69%) used the app with 21 subjects recording their own dietary intake and 11 subjects conducting a record for their child. However, a relatively large proportion of DONALD participants also refused using the app because they preferred the traditional pen-and-paper method as being easier. Among participants of the feasibility study, subjective usability of NutriDiary was “good” but considerable differences in individual ratings were observed (median SUS = 80, IQR = 23.75, minimum = 45). Although 38% of participants reported technical issues, 88% stated they would use the app again. Technical problems included issues related to setting the time, editing of entered food items and the photo function. In-app behavior recordings showed that the help mode and recipe function were well-used (72% and 63%, respectively). Feedback from the study staff revealed that the post-processing of the dietary data obtained with NutriDiary was still time-consuming. Overall, the beta version of the NutriDiary app was well-received by most participants. Some aspects for improvement such as a barcode scanning function and extension of the database were identified. Moreover, NutriDiary will be further optimized by implementing an automated recipe simulation function.
Dietary assessment in the German National Cohort (GNC)
- Sven Knüppel, Matthias Clemens, Johanna Conrad, Sylvia Gastell, Karin Michels, Michael Leitzmann, Lilian Krist, Tobias Pischon, Gerard Krause, Wolfgang Ahrens, Nina Ebert, Karl-Heinz Jöckel, Alexander Kluttig, Nadia Obi, Rudolf Kaaks, Wolfgang Lieb, Sabine Schipf, Hermann Brenner, Thorsten Heuer, Ulrich Harttig, Jakob Linseisen, Ute Nöthlings, Heiner Boeing
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 79 / Issue OCE2 / 2020
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 10 June 2020, E85
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We describe a novel dietary assessment strategy to estimate usual food intake in the ongoing large-scale multi-center German National Cohort (GNC). The dietary assessment is based on three 24 h food lists (24h-FL) and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) enriched by information from the representative German National Nutrition Survey II (NVS II). The novelty of this dietary assessment strategy is based on separating the probability of food intake from daily consumption amounts. The probability of consumption is estimated from 24h-FLs used in the GNC. To estimate daily consumption amounts, the already collected data of the NVS II are used. The 24h-FL simplifies the question on food consumption for all foods asked to consumption or not and so the questionnaire can be completed in about 10 minutes, reducing the burden on study participants. As proof of concept, we applied the assessment strategy to pretest data collected in 2012 to 2013 to assess the feasibility of the instruments. In brief, the novel dietary assessment strategy comprises three steps. First, the individuals’ consumption probability is estimated by three 24h-FLs and one FFQ applying a logistic linear mixed model adjusted for characteristics of the participants. Second, person-specific daily consumption amounts are estimated from the NVS II applying a linear mixed model taking the characteristics of the participants into account. Third, usual food intake is estimated by the consumption probability multiplied by person-specific daily amounts. Usual intake of 41 food groups in 318 men and 377 women were estimated. Of those participants who completed the first 24h-FL, 84.4, and 68.5% completed the second and third 24h-FL, respectively. No associations were observed between probability to participate and lifestyle factors. The estimated usual food intake distributions were in a plausible range as shown by comparing the estimated energy intake to the energy needs approximated by estimated total energy expenditure. Total energy was estimated to be 2,707 kcal/day for men and 2,103 kcal/day for women. With a few exceptions, the estimated food-based consumption probabilities did not differ considerably between men and women. The differences in energy intake between men and women were mainly due to their differences in the estimated person-specific daily amounts. As a conclusion, plausible but not validated values for usual food intake were derived in the pretest study, so that the combination of three repeated 24h-FLs, an FFQ and person-specific daily amounts from an external source is a feasible strategy for dietary assessment.
Innovative approaches to estimate individual usual dietary intake in large-scale epidemiological studies
- Johanna Conrad, Ute Nöthlings
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- Journal:
- Proceedings of the Nutrition Society / Volume 76 / Issue 3 / August 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 06 February 2017, pp. 213-219
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Valid estimation of usual dietary intake in epidemiological studies is a topic of present interest. The aim of the present paper is to review recent literature on innovative approaches focussing on: (1) the requirements to assess usual intake and (2) the application in large-scale settings. Recently, a number of technology-based self-administered tools have been developed, including short-term instruments such as web-based 24-h recalls, mobile food records or simple closed-ended questionnaires that assess the food intake of the previous 24 h. Due to their advantages in terms of feasibility and cost-effectiveness these tools may be superior to conventional assessment methods in large-scale settings. New statistical methods have been developed to combine dietary information from repeated 24-h dietary recalls and FFQ. Conceptually, these statistical methods presume that the usual food intake of a subject equals the probability of consuming a food on a given day, multiplied by the average amount of intake of that food on a typical consumption day. Repeated 24-h recalls from the same individual provide information on consumption probability and amount. In addition, the FFQ can add information on intake frequency of rarely consumed foods. It has been suggested that this combined approach may provide high-quality dietary information. A promising direction for estimation of usual intake in large-scale settings is the integration of both statistical methods and new technologies. Studies are warranted to assess the validity of estimated usual intake in comparison with biomarkers.