title: Development and Evaluation of e-CA, an Electronic Mobile-Based Food Record.
abstract: Measures that capture diet as validly and reliably as possible are cornerstones of nutritional research, and mobile-based devices offer new opportunities to improve and simplify data collection. The balance between precision and acceptability of these data collection tools remains debated, and rigorous validations are warranted. Our objective was to develop and evaluate an electronic mobile-based food record for a research setting. We developed e-CA, which includes almost 900 foods and beverages classified in 14 categories and 60 subcategories. e-CA was evaluated using three different methods: (1) usability and acceptability through a logbook and qualitative interviews; (2) dietary intake accuracy through comparison with 2 unannounced 24-h phone recalls on overlapping days; and (3) reliability and process comparison with a paper-based food record in a laboratory setting with a randomized design. e-CA proved to be intuitive and practical and was perceived as modern, trendy, and fun. Comparisons of e-CA with 24-h telephone recalls or paper-based food records in a laboratory setting with two small convenient samples showed good agreement but highlighted the well-known difficulty of estimating portion sizes and a necessary learning time to use the app. e-CA is a functional tool that has the potential to facilitate food intake measurement for research by increasing the pleasure of using the food record tool and reducing the perceived burden for the participants. It also decreases the workload, costs and the risk of transcription errors for researchers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences-Geneva (HEdS-GE), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Rue des Caroubiers 25, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland. sophie.bucher@hesge.ch.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bucher Della Torre
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences-Geneva (HEdS-GE), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Rue des Caroubiers 25, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland. isabelle.carrard@hesge.ch.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carrard
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences-Geneva (HEdS-GE), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Rue des Caroubiers 25, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland. eddy.farina@hesge.ch.
authors.forename: Eddy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.affiliation: Institute for Work and Health, University of Lausanne, Route de la Corniche 2, 1066 Epalinges-Lausanne, Switzerland. brigitta.danuser@hospvd.ch.
authors.forename: Brigitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Danuser
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences-Geneva (HEdS-GE), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Rue des Caroubiers 25, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland. maaike.kruseman@hesge.ch.
authors.forename: Maaike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kruseman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001628:Beverages; D040421:Cell Phone; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063731:Mobile Applications; D064787:Portion Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: development and evaluation; mobile food record; nutritional epidemiology; technology-based assessment of dietary intake