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Sensitivity and specificity of self-reported use of dietary supplements
1Department of Nutritional Epidemiology, National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden. maria.messerer@imm.ki.se
Objective:
To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of a self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)-used in a cohort of 48,000 men to determine dietary supplement use.
Design:
Questionnaire data regarding use of dietary supplements were compared with 14 24-h recall interviews spread over a year.
Setting And Subjects:
A random sample of 248 middle-aged and elderly Swedish men was included in the analysis.
Results And Conclusions:
Use of any supplement in at least one interview was reported by 51% (in three or more interviews by 38%). Sensitivity and specificity of the FFQ regarding any supplement use was 78 and 93%, respectively. Sensitivity for multivitamins, vitamins C and E was 69, 67 and 78%, respectively. The sensitivity increased to 93% and the specificity decreased to 88% when a user was defined as a person reporting use in at least three interviews.
Conclusions:
Dietary supplement use might be measured by a self-administered questionnaire relatively well especially when supplements are used more regularly.
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