title: Development and testing of a labeled magnitude scale of perceived satiety.
abstract: Satiety ratings are often made using VAS or simple category scales. In order to establish a simple, more quantitative technique to index perceived hunger and/or fullness, research was undertaken to develop and test a labeled magnitude scale of satiety. Thirty-seven subjects rated the semantic meaning of 47 phrases describing different levels of hunger/fullness using magnitude estimation. Eleven phrases were then selected using criteria of response consistency, symmetry, bipolarity, and inclusion of the end-point anchors of 'greatest imaginable hunger (fullness)'. These phrases were placed along a vertical line scale at positions corresponding to their geometric mean magnitude estimates to create a labeled magnitude scale of satiety. This Satiety Labeled Intensity Magnitude (SLIM) scale was compared to VAS scales for sensitivity and reliability in two studies. In one image-based study, ANOVA with post-hoc tests showed the SLIM scale to have greater sensitivity and to have an average reliability coefficient of 0.90. In a second study using three different foods replicated on two consecutive weeks, reliability was found to be highest for the SLIM scale. It is concluded that the SLIM scale is a sensitive, reliable, and easy-to-use scale for measuring perceived satiety that has several advantages over other, more commonly used satiety scales.
authors.affiliation: Science and Technology Directorate, US Army Natick Soldier Center, Natick, MA 01760-5020, USA. armand.cardello@natick.army.mil
authors.forename: Armand V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Cardello
authors.forename: Howard G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Schutz
authors.forename: Larry L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lesher
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merrill
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006815:Hunger / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012527:Satiation / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014481:United States