Biochemical Validation of a Self-Administered Carotenoid Intake Screener to Assess Carotenoid Intake in Nonobese Adults

Shanon L Casperson; Angela Scheett; Daniel G Palmer; Lisa Jahns; Julie M Hess; James N Roemmich

doi:10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100024

Biochemical Validation of a Self-Administered Carotenoid Intake Screener to Assess Carotenoid Intake in Nonobese Adults

Curr Dev Nutr. 2022 Dec 23;7(2):100024. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100024. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Authors

Shanon L Casperson¹, Angela Scheett¹, Daniel G Palmer¹, Lisa Jahns², Julie M Hess¹, James N Roemmich¹

Affiliations

¹ Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Services, Grand Forks, ND, USA.
² Division of Nutrition, REE National Institute of Food and Agriculture Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, USDA, Kansas City, MO, USA.

Abstract

Background: Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between carotenoid intake and health. However, an accurate measurement of carotenoid intake is challenging. FFQ is the most commonly used dietary assessment method and is typically composed of 100-200 items. However, the greater participant burden that accompanies a more detailed FFQ provides only a marginal gain in accuracy. Therefore, a brief validated carotenoid intake screener is needed.

Objectives: To conduct secondary analysis evaluating the validity of a newly developed 44-item carotenoid intake screener from The Juice Study: Sensitivity of Skin Carotenoid Status to Detect Change in Intake (NCT03202043) against corresponding plasma carotenoid concentrations (primary) and skin carotenoids (secondary) in nonobese Midwestern American adults.

Methods: Healthy adults (n = 83; 25 men and 58 women) aged 18-65 y (mean age, 32 ± 12 y) with a BMI (in kg/m²) of 18.5-29.9 (mean BMI, 25 ± 3) were recruited between 25 April 2018 and 28 March 2019. Participants completed the carotenoid intake screener weekly during the 8-wk parent study. Plasma carotenoid concentrations were assessed at weeks 0, 4, and 8 using HPLC. Skin carotenoids were assessed weekly using pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy (RS). Correlation matrices from mixed models were used to determine the correlation between carotenoid intake and plasma and skin carotenoids over time.

Results: The total carotenoid intake, as determined by the carotenoid intake screener, correlated with both the plasma total carotenoid concentration (r = 0.52; P < 0.0001) and the RS-assessed skin carotenoid concentration (r = 0.43; P < 0.0001). Correlations between reported intake and plasma concentrations of α-carotene (r = 0.40; P = 0.0002), cryptoxanthin (r = 0.28; P = 0.0113), and lycopene (r = 0.33; P = 0.0022) were also observed.

Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate an acceptable relative validity of the carotenoid intake screener to assess total carotenoid intake in adults classified as those having a healthy body or those with overweight.

Keywords: adults; biochemical validation; carotenoid intake; carotenoids; dietary assessment validation; food frequency questionnaire; plasma carotenoids; skin carotenoids.