Mobile Ecological Momentary Diet Assessment Methods for Behavioral Research: Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Behavioral Science
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Traditional dietary assessment methods have limitations in accuracy and participant burden.
• Mobile device-assisted ecological momentary diet assessment (mEMDA) is an emerging technique to improve dietary data collection.
• Limited research has characterized mEMDA protocols in behavioral research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review existing mEMDA protocols in research.
• To identify key characteristics and variations in mEMDA approaches.
• To compare mEMDA with traditional methods and discuss future research implications.

Main Methods:

• A narrative synthesis of 20 studies employing mEMDA protocols for dietary intake assessment.
• Data extraction followed PRISMA and Cochrane guidelines.
• Included studies utilized mobile devices for dietary data collection.

Main Results:

• Half of the studies used event-contingent mEMDA (participant-initiated), and half used signal-contingent mEMDA (researcher-initiated).
• Most protocols (60%) allowed mobile phone use for data entry; event-contingent protocols often focused on real-time assessment and nutrient intake.
• Signal-contingent protocols typically involved random, abbreviated surveys assessing food frequency.

Conclusions:

• mEMDA demonstrates potential to significantly reduce participant burden and recall bias in dietary research.
• This method advances dietary assessment beyond traditional approaches by enhancing ecological validity.
• Further research is needed to optimize and expand the application of mEMDA.