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Background A growing interest exists in using glycemic index and glycemic load as potentially important exposures in investigations of risk for a variety of chronic diseases. Objective We added values for glycemic index and glycemic load to the nutrient database of a commonly used dietary assessment instrument, the Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ). Design The nutrient database for the DHQ is based on 4,200 individual foods reported by adults in the 1994-1996 US Department of Agriculture Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII). This list was condensed into 225 nutritionally similar groupings of individual foods. Using published glycemic index values we assigned glycemic index values to each of the individual CSFII foods in these food groups. In cases where CSFII foods did not correspond tightly to foods with published glycemic index values, we used decision criteria to assign glycemic index values. We then calculated sex- and serving size-specific glycemic load for each of the 225 food groups using the weighted mean method. Quality assessments were made to help evaluate the success of this method for assigning glycemic load values. Results Seventy-one percent of the top carbohydrate-contributing food groups had in excess of 90% of the CSFII mentions linked directly to a published glycemic index value (ie, no imputation was required), and 100% of these food groups had at least 50% of total mentions linked directly. Conclusions Using this method, it is now possible to use DHQ responses to assess the associations between reported glycemic load and glycemic index and risk of many chronic diseases in epidemiologic studies. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106:393-402.

The article presents the theoretical context and the elements that underlie the development of the community well-being questionnaire. It also discusses the reliability and validity of the questionnaire's scales by presenting results from two studies carried out in urban areas in the U.K., Ireland and Greece. The scales assess satisfaction with the built environment, environmental quality and services and facilities. They also measure personal safety, informal interaction, community spirit, income sufficiency, decision making process and place attachment. Analyses showed that they have high internal and good test-retest reliability. They also perform well, when subjected to factorial validity and construct validity assessments.

A centered translating process appears to be the most reliable for administering questionnaires cross-culturally. There is no fool-proof validation for cross-cultural translations and errors in comparisons resulting from semantic differences rather than actual differences are inevitable. A systematic application of the step-by-step process of cross-cultural translation should reduce errors to the bare minimum.

Investment managers in the UK are complaining about too many questionnaires sent to them by pension funds' investment consultants. The questionnaires ask for basic factual information and are a necessary part of appointing investment managers. However, the questions are asked in many different ways, making it impossible for investment managers to standardize their answers. A working party has been established to look for ways of standardizing investment consultant questionnaires.