Validation of an FFQ to assess short-term antioxidant intake against 30 d food records and plasma biomarkers.

ObjectiveTo validate a brief FFQ developed for capturing short-term antioxidant intake in a sample of US college students.DesignA seventy-four-item antioxidant FFQ was developed based on major antioxidant sources in the American diet. The FFQ was validated against 30 d food records (FR) and plasma antioxidant concentrations. The reliability of the FFQ was evaluated by two FFQ administered at a 1-month interval.SettingsUniversity of Connecticut, CT, USA.SubjectsSixty healthy college students.ResultsEstimates of dietary antioxidants from the FFQ were moderately to highly correlated with those estimated from the 30 d FR (r = 0·29–0·80; P < 0·05) except for γ-tocopherol and β-cryptoxanthin. Total antioxidant capacity from diet only or from diet and supplements estimated by the 30 d FR and FFQ were highly correlated (r = 0·67 and 0·71, respectively; P < 0·0001). The FFQ categorized 91 % of participants into the same or adjacent tertiles of antioxidant intake as the 30 d FR. Most dietary carotenoids estimated from the FFQ were correlated with plasma levels (P < 0·05). Correlation coefficients for test–retest reliability ranged from 0·39 to 0·86. More than 94 % of the participants were classified in the same or adjacent tertiles between the two administrations of the FFQ.ConclusionsThe brief FFQ demonstrated reasonable validity for capturing a comprehensive antioxidant intake profile. This FFQ is applicable in epidemiological or clinical studies to capture short-term antioxidant intake or to simply document the variations of antioxidant intake in intervention trials. Cross-validation studies are warranted in other target populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]