[Reduction modality of a dietary questionnaire]

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Biostatistics

Context:

• Dietary assessment is crucial for understanding nutrient intake and patient health.
• A 152-item questionnaire (QC) was used to collect data on 7 nutrients and total energy from 200 patients.
• The need for a more concise yet informative dietary assessment tool was identified.

Purpose:

• To develop reduced dietary questionnaires (QR) that retain substantial information from a comprehensive questionnaire (QC).
• To utilize stepwise multiple regression to identify key food items for nutrient intake assessment.
• To create three distinct QR versions based on variance explained and nutrient contribution.

Summary:

• A stepwise multiple regression model was employed to select essential food items for assessing daily average nutrient and energy intake.
• Three reduced questionnaires (QR) were generated, varying in their selection criteria.
• The performance of the QRs was evaluated using inter-class correlation coefficients and simulations for case-control studies.

Impact:

• The developed QRs offer a more efficient method for dietary assessment compared to the original 152-item questionnaire.
• Analysis included evaluating the attenuation of odds ratio trends and sample size increases in simulated case-control studies.
• These findings support the potential application of reduced questionnaires in nutritional research and clinical settings.