Abstract
Objective: To evaluate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) used to assess the dietary intake of iodine.
Design: The iodine intake determined by the FFQ was compared with 4-day dietary records and with iodine excretion in 24 h urine samples in a subgroup of participants in a cross-sectional study of iodine intake and thyroid diseases in Denmark. Furthermore, the intake of fish determined from the FFQ was compared with the intake of fish from a simple record kept for 3 months.
Subjects: Women aged 25–30 y and 60–65 y.
Results: Median iodine intake was similar when determined from the FFQ and from dietary records and the correlation between these measures was 0.52 (P<0.001). Iodine intake was higher than iodine excretion (P<0.001). The cross-check questions in the FFQ (for example the question ‘How often did you get any kind of fish?’) underestimated the intake. In contrast, the intake of a specific fish tended to be overestimated by the FFQ when compared with the 3 month record of fish intake.
Conclusion: The FFQ can be used to classify subjects into low and high iodine intake groups, but the level of iodine tends to be overestimated.
Sponsorship: The Danish Medical Foundation and the 1991 Pharmacy Foundation.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 287–292
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Guarantor: LB Rasmussen.
Contributors: LBR and LO contributed to design of the food frequency questionnaire and the design of the evaluation studies. Data collection was performed by LBR, IB and NK. LO, TJ, PL and HP contributed to design of DanThyr. All took part in writing the paper.
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Rasmussen, L., Ovesen, L., Bülow, I. et al. Evaluation of a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to estimate iodine intake. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 287–292 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601156
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601156
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