Reliability of a sugar consumption questionnaire for rural Haiti

Abstract

Objective: Studies of dental caries should account for sugar consumption as a potential confounder or effect modifier of other exposure-caries associations. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a sugar consumption score for rural Haiti through correlation of test-retest scores derived from astructured, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Methods: A structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire of sugar consumption was developed forrural Haiti to achieve contextual validity. The resulting questionnaire had two parts; one part captures the child’s consumption of sugar products frequency; the second part captures sugar additions to the child’s food preparation. A test-retest, one week apart, was conducted on a sample of 30 mother-child pairs (children ages 9-17). Test-retest correlations and paired t-testing was conducted to assess the questionnaire’s reliability. Results: All test-retest (Part 1, children’s questions; Part 2, mother’s questions; the combined scores) had Pearson product correlation coefficients of 0.7 orgreater, respectively. All test-retest scores had paired t-test p-values ³ 0.95.Conclusions: A reliable, contextually valid relativesugar consumption questionnaire specific for rural Haitiis presented. The questionnaire and methodologyemployed in its development and testing may haveutility for dental caries researchers in investigations inless developed countries.