Dietary Assessment Capturing Spice and Herb Intake: Validation of an Online Questionnaire

Additional Funding Sources

The funding for this project was supported or partially supported by Idaho State University Office of the Provost Undergraduate Research funds.

Abstract

Background: The protective effects of spices/herbs against oxidative damage have been demonstrated in human trials; however, few reports describe habitual intake in relation to health outcomes. Since the health benefits of spices/herbs likely result from long-term intake in small amounts, measuring their consumption requires an accurate tool.

Objective: To determine the validity of an online questionnaire that measures spice/herb intake.

Design: An online questionnaire was created to collect information on frequency and amount of consumption of 28 spices/herbs. A sample of the ISU community completed two online activities in random order: 1) Diet History Questionnaire + spice/herb questionnaire and 2) 7-day food records (the criterion method). Spice/herb data from each method were compared using nonparametric correlational analysis and ANOVA.

Results: Spice/herb intake was significantly higher using the questionnaire vs. food records (ANOVA p<0.001) and there were no significant correlations between methods for the most popular herbs/spices.

Conclusion: The questionnaire vs. food records collected more data on spice/herb intake, but the accuracy of the questionnaire data is unclear given the low reporting rate on the food records. A different criterion method is needed for validation of the questionnaire.

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Dietary Assessment Capturing Spice and Herb Intake: Validation of an Online Questionnaire

Background: The protective effects of spices/herbs against oxidative damage have been demonstrated in human trials; however, few reports describe habitual intake in relation to health outcomes. Since the health benefits of spices/herbs likely result from long-term intake in small amounts, measuring their consumption requires an accurate tool.

Objective: To determine the validity of an online questionnaire that measures spice/herb intake.

Design: An online questionnaire was created to collect information on frequency and amount of consumption of 28 spices/herbs. A sample of the ISU community completed two online activities in random order: 1) Diet History Questionnaire + spice/herb questionnaire and 2) 7-day food records (the criterion method). Spice/herb data from each method were compared using nonparametric correlational analysis and ANOVA.

Results: Spice/herb intake was significantly higher using the questionnaire vs. food records (ANOVA p<0.001) and there were no significant correlations between methods for the most popular herbs/spices.

Conclusion: The questionnaire vs. food records collected more data on spice/herb intake, but the accuracy of the questionnaire data is unclear given the low reporting rate on the food records. A different criterion method is needed for validation of the questionnaire.