Exploring the potential utility of a single-item perceived diet quality measure

Perceived diet quality (PDQ) has been suggested as an easy-to-use dietary assessment tool. However, its practicality and efficiency are still questionable. This study aimed to gauge the utility of PDQ as an alternative dietary assessment tool among Korean adults by examining PDQ and its associated factors.

An online survey was conducted on 514 Korean adults aged 19 to 64 years in October 2022. PDQ was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale, and participants were categorized into healthy, fair, or unhealthy PDQ groups. The participants were asked about the perceived importance of nutrients and food groups for health and the extent to which they considered these factors in their usual diets using a 5-point Likert scale. A multivariate linear regression model was used to identify the factors associated with PDQ.

About 26.7% of participants rated their diets as healthy, while 63.2% rated them as fair and 10.1% rated them as unhealthy. Participants with a healthy PDQ rated perceived importance and consideration of nutrients and food groups higher than the fair or unhealthy PDQ groups. A healthier PDQ was associated with the male gender, an older age, being normal or underweight, having better subjective health, lower use of alcohol, being physically active, having a high interest in healthy diets, and a higher perception of the importance of nutrients and food groups for health.

The PDQ could serve as a simple and rapid screening tool for identifying individuals at risk of poor diets.