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Exposure assessment error and its handling in nutritional epidemiology
1Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7400, USA.
Annual Review of Public Health
|January 1, 1995
Summary
Nutritional epidemiology relies on food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) due to limited biomarkers. Proper FFQ design and error assessment are crucial for accurate dietary intake evaluation and reliable study findings.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Dietary Assessment
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Exposure assessment is a critical limitation in nutritional epidemiology.
- Biomarkers of dietary intake are scarce in the United States.
- Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are commonly used to estimate habitual food consumption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline key considerations for designing population-specific FFQs.
- To discuss the impact of measurement error on scientific hypotheses.
- To highlight the importance of understanding within- and between-person variation for nutrient adequacy assessment.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on dietary assessment tools.
- Analysis of measurement error sources and types in nutritional studies.
- Discussion of theoretical frameworks for error correction in exposure assessment.
Main Results:
- FFQs require careful design tailored to the target population's eating patterns.
- Measurement error can significantly bias findings in both nutrient adequacy and risk assessments.
- Intra- to interindividual variation is essential for evaluating nutrient adequacy.
Conclusions:
- Accurate dietary exposure assessment is fundamental for valid nutritional epidemiologic research.
- Addressing measurement error, though theoretically developed, is hindered by practical limitations like software and calibration data.
- Improved FFQ design and error correction methods are needed to enhance the reliability of nutritional studies.