Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ) in the NHANES 2009-10: Dietary Factors, Food Items Asked, and Testing Status for DSQ

Substantial evaluation work has been done to develop the individual questions on the Dietary Screener Questionnaire and test the performance of subsets of questions.

On this page...

• Evaluation & Testing Status
• Published Evaluation Information
• Unpublished Evaluation Information

Evaluation & Testing Status

The following table summarizes the evaluation and testing status for each question on the screener.

1. Cognitively tested indicates that the wording of the item was developed through iterative cognitive testing.
2. Validity testing indicates that the screener was administered and the results compared to multiple 24-hour recalls. Indirect validity testing indicates that a “screener” was constructed post hoc from existing screener questions and Diet History Questionnaire questions and compared to multiple 24-hour recalls.
3. Translation cognitively tested indicates that the Spanish translation of the food item was adapted for Spanish speakers using cognitive testing.

Published Evaluation Information

Thompson FE, Midthune D, Kahle L, Dodd KW. Development and Evaluation of the National Cancer Institute's Dietary Screener Questionnaire Scoring Algorithms. J Nutr. 2017 Jun;147(6):1226-1233.

Yaroch AL, Tooze J, Thompson FE, Blanck HM, Thompson OM, Colon-Ramos U, Shaikh A, McNutt S, Nebeling L. Evaluation of three short dietary instruments to assess fruit and vegetable intake: The National Cancer Institute's Food Attitudes and Behaviors (FAB) Survey. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012;112:1134-7.

George SM, Thompson FE, Midthune D, Subar AF, Berrigan D, Schatzkin A, Potischman N. Strength of the relationships between three self-reported dietary intake instruments and serum carotenoids: the Observing Energy and Protein Nutrition (OPEN) Study. Pub Health Nutr. 2012 15:1000-7.

Colón-Ramos U, Thompson FE, Yaroch AL, Moser RP, McNeel TS, Dodd KW, Atienza AA, Sugerman SB, Nebeling L. Differences in fruit and vegetable intake among Hispanic subgroups in California: results from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Nov;109(11):1878-85.

Thompson FE, McNeel TS, Dowling EC, Midthune D, Morrissette M, Zeruto CA. Interrelationships of added sugars intake, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity in adults in the United States: National Health Interview Survey, 2005. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Aug;109(8):1376-83.

Levin K, Willis GB, Forsyth BH, Norberg A, Kudela MS, Stark D, Thompson FE. Using cognitive interviews to evaluate Spanish-language translation of a dietary questionnaire. Survey Research Methods 2009; 3:13–25.

Thompson FE, Midthune D, Subar AF, McNeel T, Berrigan D, Kipnis V. Dietary intake estimates in the National Health Interview Survey, 2000: methodology, results, and interpretation. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Mar;105(3):352-63; quiz 487.

Thompson FE, Midthune D, Subar AF, Kahle LL, Schatzkin A, Kipnis V. Performance of a short tool to assess dietary intakes of fruits and vegetables, percentage energy from fat and fibre. Public Health Nutr. 2004 Dec;7(8):1097-105.

Unpublished Evaluation Information

Analyses have compared screener estimates of various dietary factors to multiple 24-hour dietary recalls in the Observing Protein and Energy Nutrition (OPEN) Study and the Eating at America’s Table Study (EATS) (Tables 1–4). Other analyses have compared screener estimates of fruits and vegetables and added sugars from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to estimates from two 24-hour recalls in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (Table 5). Overall, these analyses show good agreement in estimates of mean intakes between multiple 24HR and the screener-derived variables. Generally, differences in intakes by sex and race/ethnicity evident from 24HR are reflected in differences in intakes from the screener.

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5