Factors associated with the reproducibility of specific food items from the southwest food frequency questionnaire

Little is known about the effect on reproducibility of including ethnically unique foods in a food frequency questionnaire. The Southwest Food Frequen cy Questionnaire (SWFFQ) has a food list that includes foods that are uniqu e to Hispanic populations. 75 adults self-administered SWFFQs twice. Correlation of responses between administrations was calculated for each food item. Several variables were e xamined as potential predictors of reproducibility. Linear regression model s were constructed to relate predictor variables to reproducibility. No significant differences in reproducibility between the gender or ethnic groups or between food types were detected. The regression models construct ed included percentage of participants who ate a food and mean frequency wi th which the food was consumed as significant positive predictors of reprod ucibility. It was concluded that inclusion of less frequently eaten food items may lea d to lower reproducibility, The results also suggested that subject burnout is not an issue with FFQs of moderate length.