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Reproducibility and validity of coffee and tea consumption in Italy

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 674–680 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: The reproducibility and validity of coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea intake has not been adequately studied, particularly in Italy, where coffee drinking is peculiar in terms of type and amount of coffee consumed.

Design: We compared coffee and tea consumption, measured by two interviewer-administered food frequency questionnaires (FFQ), with average intake derived from two 7-day dietary (DD) records (the reference method) on 395 volunteers. The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) were used to assess both reproducibility and validity of information on coffee intake.

Results: A satisfactory level of reproducibility and validity of the pattern consumption was observed for coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea. The reproducibility for both sex combined showed r of 0.74–0.78 for coffee, 0.57–0.65 for decaffeinated coffee and 0.61–0.67 for tea. The validity was about 0.70 for coffee, around 0.58 for decaffeinated coffee and 0.56–0.60 for tea intake.

Conclusions: The FFQ is a satisfactorily reliable and valid instrument for collecting information on coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea intake.

Sponsorship: Supported by the Italian Association for Research on Cancer, Milan, Italy, and by the Commission of the European Communities (Contract No.: QLKI-CT-2000-00069).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina, Chirurgia e Odontoiatria, Università di Milano, Polo San Paolo, Milano, Italy

    M Ferraroni

  2. Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Milano, Italy

    A Tavani, E Negri & C La Vecchia

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Biotecnologia, Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy

    A Decarli

  4. International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon Cedex, France

    S Franceschi

  5. Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, Aviano (Pordenone), Italy

    M Parpinel

  6. Istituto di Biometria e Statistica Medica, Università di Milano, Milano, Italy

    C La Vecchia

Authors
  1. M Ferraroni
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  2. A Tavani
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  3. A Decarli
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  4. S Franceschi
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  5. M Parpinel
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  6. E Negri
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  7. C La Vecchia
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Contributions

Guarantor: A Tavani.

Contributors: CLV and SF conceived and coordinated the study. MF, EN and AD managed and analysed data. AT wrote the paper. MP gave valuable contribution on nutrition.

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Correspondence to A Tavani.

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Ferraroni, M., Tavani, A., Decarli, A. et al. Reproducibility and validity of coffee and tea consumption in Italy. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 674–680 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601864

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601864

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