Under- and overreporting of energy in a group of candidates for CABG surgery and its association with some anthropometric and sociodemographic factors, Tehran, Iran

Original Research

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Authors: Bahareh Amirkalali, Mehdi Najafi, Asal Ataie-Jafari, Saeed Hosseini, Ramin Heshmat

Published Date August 2008 Volume 2008:4(5) Pages 1115 - 1120

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/VHRM.S3271

Bahareh Amirkalali¹, Mehdi Najafi², Asal Ataie-Jafari¹, Saeed Hosseini¹, Ramin Heshmat¹

¹Nutrition Department, The Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Centre (EMRC) of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; ²Tehran Heart Center, Tehran, Iran

Introduction: Numerous studies have documented a high prevalence of misreporting energy intakes. This paper examines the prevalence of under- and overreporting of energy intake in a group of candidates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and its association with body mass index (BMI) and some sociodemographic factors.

Subjects and methods: Dietary assessment (using a food frequency questionnaire) and demographic evaluation of 449 CABG surgery candidates was performed. Weight and height was also measured. McCrory equation was used to identify inaccurate records of energy intake. With this equation, reporting energy intake less than 78% and more than 122% of predicted energy expenditure was considered as under- and overreporting, respectively.

Results: Less than half of the participants reported energy intakes within the plausible limits. There were more overreporters than underreporters in this sample. The only significant association between misreporting and related factors was seen in BMI groups. As BMI increased, the number of underreporters increased significantly. Expressed as a percentage of total energy, mean carbohydrate intake was significantly lower and mean fat and protein intake was significantly higher in underreporters compared to overreporters.

Conclusion: The high prevalence of misreporting suggests more research to examine the characteristics of misreporters. Calibrating data with these characteristics can help to improve intake estimates.

Keywords: underreporting, overreporting, energy intake, CABG candidates