Development and validation of the FiberScreen: A short questionnaire to screen fibre intake in adults

Iris Rijnaarts; Nicole de Roos; Erwin G Zoetendal; Nicole de Wit; Ben J M Witteman

doi:10.1111/jhn.12941

Development and validation of the FiberScreen: A short questionnaire to screen fibre intake in adults

J Hum Nutr Diet. 2021 Dec;34(6):969-980. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12941. Epub 2021 Aug 29.

Authors

Iris Rijnaarts^{1

2

3}, Nicole de Roos¹, Erwin G Zoetendal², Nicole de Wit³, Ben J M Witteman^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Human Nutrition & Health, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
² Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
³ Wageningen Food and Biobased Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Hospital Gelderse Vallei, Ede, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Health effects of dietary fibres are the topic of many studies. Eligibility criteria often include a certain fibre intake, which requires dietary screening during recruitment. However, dietary assessment methods are extensive and burdensome for both the researcher and participant. Therefore, we developed and validated a short questionnaire (FiberScreen) to screen fibre intake.

Methods: The initial five-item questionnaire assessed fruit, vegetable, whole grain, pasta/rice/potato and legume intake. The optimised FiberScreen included 18 items, which further specified intake of the above-mentioned categories, and included nuts and seeds. The FiberScreen was completed during two fibre promoting interventions. In Study A, participants without constipation completed the five-item FiberScreen and a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) during screening (n = 131), and the 18-item FiberScreen and a FFQ at 3-month follow-up (n = 87). In Study B, 29 constipated participants completed the 18-item FiberScreen at screening and a FFQ during the first study visit.

Results: The fibre estimate from the five-item FiberScreen and the FFQ was moderately correlated (r = 0.356, p < 0.001). Importantly, the 18-item FiberScreen and FFQ, when data of both studies were combined, had a strong correlation (r = 0.563, p < 0.001). The 18-item FiberScreen had a lower fibre estimate compared to the FFQ (Δ = 1.2 ± 5.9 g, p = 0.030) but the difference was relatively small. Bland-Altman plots showed a good agreement between the questionnaires. Completion time of the 18-item FiberScreen was 4.2 ± 2 min.

Conclusions: The 18-item FiberScreen is a suitable short screening questionnaire for ranking the fibre intake of adults. The 18-item FiberScreen can help to reduce screening burden for both the participant and researcher.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03848546 NCT04457791.

Keywords: comparability; dietary fibre; food frequency questionnaire; functional bowel disorders; questionnaire; screening.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Diet Records
Diet*
Humans
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires
Vegetables*

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03848546
ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04457791