Dietary intake estimated using different methods in two Italian older populations

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nutritional Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Nutritional assessment tools for epidemiological studies are often validated in younger populations.
• The reliability of these tools in older adults remains uncertain, necessitating specific validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) questionnaire for assessing dietary intake in older adults.
• To compare dietary intake data from the EPIC questionnaire with a 7-day diary method in the InCHIANTI study population.

Main Methods:

• The study compared dietary intake data from the EPIC questionnaire (InCHIANTI study) with a 7-day diary (INN-CA study).
• Participants included older men and women randomly sampled from the general population.
• Data analysis focused on macro- and micro-nutrient distributions across different age groups and genders.

Main Results:

• Despite differing populations and data collection methods, macro- and micro-nutrient intake distributions were similar between the EPIC questionnaire and the 7-day diary.
• The food frequency questionnaire demonstrated comparable population-level dietary intake estimates to a more resource-intensive objective method.

Conclusions:

• The EPIC questionnaire shows promise for assessing nutritional intake in older populations within epidemiological research.
• Further research is recommended to validate these findings at an individual level.