title: The validity of a food frequency questionnaire as a measure of PUFA status in pregnancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nutritional studies have found conflicting evidence regarding the ability of Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) to demonstrate convergent validity with tissue content of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). We therefore sought to assess the convergent validity of a FFQ strategy when compared with a blood biomarker of PUFA levels in a sample of pregnant women.
  
  
  METHODS
  A previously validated PUFA FFQ was completed by 895 pregnant women and compared to erythrocyte membrane of six PUFA variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four of the six correlations were found to be formally significant, however two of these demonstrated minimal associational strength. Moderate-high correlations between the FFQ-derived PUFA intake estimates and blood biomarker PUFA levels were shown only for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 0.55) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 0.61).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the correlations were lower than those found in general population studies. Findings suggest biological estimates, such as blood samples, may be most appropriate to measure PUFA levels above indirect strategies such as an FFQ in this population. The results, if an indirect strategy is unavoidable, indicate specific PUFAs where an FFQ strategy may be most informative.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. g.parker@blackdog.org.au.|Black Dog Institute, Hospital Rd, Randwick, 2031, NSW, Australia. g.parker@blackdog.org.au.
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. g.mcclure@unsw.edu.au.|Black Dog Institute, Hospital Rd, Randwick, 2031, NSW, Australia. g.mcclure@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. bdhegarty@gmail.com.|Black Dog Institute, Hospital Rd, Randwick, 2031, NSW, Australia. bdhegarty@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bronwyn D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Hegarty
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. isabellegranvillesmith@yahoo.com.au.|Black Dog Institute, Hospital Rd, Randwick, 2031, NSW, Australia. isabellegranvillesmith@yahoo.com.au.
authors.forename: Isabelle Granville
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000097:blood*; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000097:blood*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid