Validity of self-reported intakes of wine, beer and spirits in population studies.
OBJECTIVE
To compare data on intake of wine, beer and spirits from a frequency questionnaire with intake of each type of alcoholic beverage estimated from a dietary interview.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
The Danish MONICA study.


METHODS
A randomly selected sub-sample of 244 women and 249 men aged 35-65 y.


METHODS
Differences in intake of beer, wine and spirits as reported by the frequency questionnaire and the diet history interview.


RESULTS
There was an overall agreement between the two methods, with very little or no systematic variation for all three alcoholic beverages.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared to a more time consuming and thorough dietary interview, the traditional frequency questionnaires seem to sufficiently capture intakes of different types of alcohol. Bias in alcohol reporting by the frequency questionnaire does not seem responsible for the recently found decreased mortality among subjects with a daily intake of wine, nor the increased mortality from spirits drinking.
Grønbaek
M
M
Danish Epidemiology Science Center, Institute of Preventive Medicine, Copenhagen Hospital Corporation, Kommunehospitalet, Denmark.
Heitmann
B L
BL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages; D001515:Beer; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014920:Wine