Validity of brief food frequency questionnaire for estimation of dietary intakes of folate, vitamins B₆ and B₁₂, and their associations with plasma homocysteine concentrations

Abstract

Background Low nutrient intakes of folate, vitamins B₆ and B₁₂ have been associated with the risk of chronic diseases and neural tube defects. The aim of this study was to develop a brief food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for the assessment of these nutrient intakes and to assess its validity.

Methods We developed a brief FFQ designed specifically for estimating intakes of folate and vitamins B₆ and B₁₂ and covering 21 food items, and used it to carry out dietary surveys of 579 Japanese men and women. The associations of these vitamin intakes with their serum levels and homocysteine concentrations were examined using multiple linear regression analysis after adjusting for sex, age and cardiovascular risk factors.

Results The Spearman correlation coefficients between vitamin intakes and their serum concentrations were 0.10 for folate, 0.08 for vitamin B₆ and 0.22 for B₁₂. Changes in plasma homocysteine concentrations associated with a one-standard-deviation increment were −0.03 for dietary folate, −0.03 for dietary vitamin B₆ and −0.03 for dietary vitamin B₁₂, and were −0.06 for serum folate, −0.03 for serum vitamin B₆ and −0.06 for serum vitamin B₁₂.

Conclusion Positive correlations between dietary intakes estimated from our brief FFQ and serum concentrations for folate and vitamin B₁₂ as well as negative correlations between dietary intakes and plasma homocysteine concentrations suggest the usefulness of this questionnaire.

Keywords::

• Diet
• folate
• vitamin B₆
• vitamin B₁₂
• homocysteine

View correction statement:

Erratum