Validation and Reproducibility of Calcium Food Frequency Questionnaire

Tan, Florence Ying Xuan (2019) Validation and Reproducibility of Calcium Food Frequency Questionnaire. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

The amount of calcium intake obtained during childhood is crucial for the development of peak bone mass and prevent osteoporosis in older age. There is no valid calcium specific FFQ conducted in Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to validate and test the reproducibility of the calcium specified FFQ developed. Total of 112 subjects aged 10-11 years recruited through cluster sampling from primary schools in Kuala Lumpur were involved in validation study. Second administration of FFQ were conducted after 1month on 50 subjects which were randomly chosen from subjects participated in validation study. Content validity, Pearson correlation coefficient, paired t-test, Bland-Altman Plot, cross-classification were used to determine the validity of this FFQ. Reproducibility was shown with Cronbach’s Alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) values between FFQ 1 and FFQ 2. In validation study, there was positive correlations (p<0.01, r=0.47) and significant different (p<0.01) in the mean calcium intakes between FFQ and 3-days FR. The Bland-Altman plot showed acceptable agreement between the two methods. 96% of subjects were classified correctly into same or adjacent quartiles. For reproducibility, no significant difference (p>0.01) were observed between the difference of mean calcium intakes between FFQ 1 and FFQ 2. Significant correlations (p<0.01, r=0.64) was found between both methods. Both ICC and Cronbach’s Alpha analysis showed good agreement as the value obtained for calcium was 0.75. In conclusion, this study exhibited acceptable and reasonable validity and excellent reproducibility of calcium specified FFQ, and can be used as the valid tool to assess the calcium intake of schoolchildren. Keywords: Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), Validation, Reproducibility, Food record, Schoolchildren, Calcium