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Title: Best practices for conducting and interpreting studies to validate self-report dietary assessment methods

Author
item KIRKPATRICK, SHARON - University Of Waterloo
item BARANOWSKI, TOM - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item SUBAR, AMY - National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH)
item TOOZE, JANET - Wake Forest School Of Medicine
item FRONGILLO, EDWARD - University Of South Carolina

Submitted to: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/12/2019
Publication Date: 9/11/2019
Citation: Kirkpatrick, S.I., Baranowski, T., Subar, A.F., Tooze, J., Frongillo, E.A. 2019. Best practices for conducting and interpreting studies to validate self-report dietary assessment methods. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.06.010.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.06.010

Interpretive Summary: Nutrition research is plagued with inconsistent results. Part of the problem is inaccurate measurement of dietary intake, and use of measures that are labeled as "validated", but meet low standards for that term. This paper reviews the problems in dietary intake assessment and those in validating new measures. A number of prescriptions are made for the design of measurement validation studies. A checklist is proposed for guiding and reporting such studies.

Technical Abstract: Careful consideration of the validity and reliability of methods intended to assess dietary intake is central to the robustness of nutrition research. A dietary assessment method with high validity is capable of providing useful measurement for a given purpose and context. More specifically, a method with high validity is well grounded in theory; its performance is consistent with that theory; and it is precise, dependable, and accurate within specified performance standards. Assessing the extent to which dietary assessment methods possess these characteristics can be difficult due to the complexity of dietary intake, as well as difficulties capturing true intake. We identified challenges and best practices related to the validation of self-report dietary assessment methods. The term validation is used to encompass various dimensions that must be assessed and considered to determine whether a given method is suitable for a specific purpose. Evidence on the varied concepts of validity and reliability should be interpreted in combination to inform judgments about the suitability of a method for a specified purpose. Self-report methods are the focus because they are used in most studies seeking to measure dietary intake. Biomarkers are important reference measures to validate self-report methods and are also discussed. A checklist is proposed to contribute to strengthening the literature on the validation of dietary assessment methods and ultimately, the nutrition literature more broadly.