Design and Validation of the Index of Adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Chile 2022 (GABAS-Index 17)

Background/Objectives: Adherence to national dietary guidelines is essential for promoting healthy eating and preventing chronic diseases. In Chile, the 2022 update introduced new evidence-based recommendations, but no validated tool is currently available to assess adherence. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a tool to assess adherence to the updated Chilean dietary guidelines. Methods: For this purpose, five expert judges evaluated the content validity using Aiken's V (V ≥ 0.80). Reliability was assessed through a 21-day test-retest in 30 participants (≥18 years, mean age 38.9 years; 63.3% women) using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC(3,1)), a two-way mixed-effects model to assess the absolute agreement of individual measurements, Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), and Minimal Detectable Change (MDC95) at the 95% confidence level. Internal consistency was assessed in 152 participants (≥18 years) examined via McDonald's ω, and construct validity through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the WLSMV estimator. Results: The GABAS-Index 17 showed high content validity (Aiken's V = 0.93-1.00), good internal consistency (ω = 0.64-0.71), and accurate reliability (ICC = 0.905; SEM < 1; MDC95 = 2.1). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed four-dimensional structure (CFI = 1.00; TLI = 1.02; RMSEA = 0.00), confirming strong factorial validity and internal coherence. Conclusions: These findings support the GABAS-Index 17 as an adequate and reliable tool for assessing adherence to the updated Chilean dietary guidelines. Although some psychometric aspects, such as the factorial structure, could be improved, the instrument performs well for its intended purpose of providing an overall adherence score. Its use can facilitate monitoring dietary patterns, support nutrition research, and inform public health strategies to improve diet quality in the Chilean population.