Temporal Change in the Reproducibility of a Self-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire

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Abstract
The authors studied temporal change in the reproducibility of a self-administered food frequency question naire. During 1988–1994, 492 residents of a rural Japanese town completed five questionnaires including 27 food items, with intervals ranging from 2 weeks through 5.5 years. The reproducibility decreased steadily over time for pairs of the questionnaires administered in the same season (median Spearman's r at 2 weeks and 5 years = 0.62 and 0.28, respectively). The reduction was less marked for those surveyed in different seasons (median r at 5 months and 5.5 years = 0.35 and 0.28, respectively). The short-term, different season correlation at 5 months was lower than the short-term, same season correlation at 1 year. For individual food items, a lower initial reproducibility, infrequent consumption, and a larger difference in seasonal intake were associated with a greater reduction in reproducibility overtime. The results indicate that reproducibility studies should deliberately choose the intervals and the seasons for surveys. Am J Epidemiol 1995;142:1231–5.

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