Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33430897›Full record

SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2021

A meta-analysis of the reproducibility of food frequency questionnaires in nutritional epidemiological studies.

Qi Cui, Yang Xia, Qijun Wu, Qing Chang, Kaijun Niu, Yuhong Zhao

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  7. Food Frequency Questionnaires Validated in Brazil: A Scoping Review.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026
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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Qi CuiPresent address: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Yang XiaPresent address: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Qijun WuPresent address: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Qing ChangPresent address: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Kaijun NiuPresent address: Nutritional Epidemiology Institute and School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China. nkj0809@gmail.com.
Yuhong ZhaoPresent address: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China. zhaoyuhong@sj-hospital.org.ORCID 0000-0002-6806-521X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundReproducibility of FFQs measures the consistency of the same subject at different time points. We performed a meta-analysis to explore the reproducibility of FFQs and factors related to reproducibility of FFQs. METHODS AND

findingsA systematic literature review was performed before July 2020 using PubMed and Web of Science databases. Pooled intraclass and Spearman correlation coefficients (95% confidence interval) were calculated to assess the reproducibility of FFQs. Subgroup analyses based on characteristics of study populations, FFQs, or study design were performed to investigate factors related to the reproducibility of FFQs. A total of 123 studies comprising 20,542 participants were eligible for the meta-analysis. The pooled crude intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.499 to 0.803 and 0.499 to 0.723 for macronutrients and micronutrients, respectively. Energy-adjusted intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.420 to 0.803 and 0.507 to 0.712 for macronutrients and micronutrients, respectively. The pooled crude and energy-adjusted Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.548 to 0.851 and 0.441 to 0.793, respectively, for macronutrients; and from 0.573 to 0.828 and 0.510 to 0.744, respectively, for micronutrients. FFQs with more food items, 12 months as dietary recall interval (compared to less than 12 months), and a shorter time period between repeated FFQs resulted in superior FFQ reproducibility.

conclusionsIn conclusion, FFQs with correlation coefficients greater than 0.5 for most nutrients may be considered a reliable tool to measure dietary intake. To develop FFQs with higher reproducibility, the number of food items and dietary recall interval should be taken into consideration.

Indexed as

Reproducibility of ResultsAdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overChildDietDiet RecordsDiet SurveysEatingEnergy IntakeEpidemiologic StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMental RecallFFQFood frequency questionnaireMacronutrients, micronutrientsMeta-analysisReproducibility

Identifiers

PMID33430897
PMCPMC7802360

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.