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. 2018 Jun 8;10(6):745.
doi: 10.3390/nu10060745.

Validation of Dietary Vitamin D Intake from Two Food Frequency Questionnaires, Using Food Records and the Biomarker 25-Hydroxyvitamin D among Pregnant Women

Linnea Bärebring  1 , Anna Amberntsson  2 , Anna Winkvist  3 , Hanna Augustin  4
Affiliations

Validation of Dietary Vitamin D Intake from Two Food Frequency Questionnaires, Using Food Records and the Biomarker 25-Hydroxyvitamin D among Pregnant Women

Linnea Bärebring et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Our objective was to validate vitamin D intake from a short vitamin D questionnaire (VDQ) and a longer online food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) against a food record and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) as a biomarker of vitamin D status, among pregnant women in Sweden. The number of women included was 1125 with VDQ, FFQ and 25OHD, and of those, 64 also completed the food record. Median vitamin D intakes were 3.9 &micro;g by VDQ (p < 0.001), and 5.3 &micro;g by FFQ (p = 0.89), compared to 5.0 &micro;g by food record. Correlations between vitamin D intake from food record and VDQ (rho = 0.51, p < 0.001) or FFQ (rho = 0.49, p < 0.001) were similar. The VDQ and FFQ also had a similar ability to rank the individuals according to vitamin D intake. However, only vitamin D intake from the VDQ was significantly associated with vitamin D status as assessed by 25OHD. The validation coefficient for the VDQ was 0.68 and 0.75 for the FFQ. In conclusion, assessing dietary vitamin D intake is challenging, regardless of the dietary assessment method. The VDQ, that includes only four food items, is a valid, simple and useful tool in assessing vitamin D intake of pregnant women in Sweden, while imposing a minimal burden on women and researchers.

Keywords: Vitamin D; biomarker; dietary assessment; validation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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