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An approach to construct simplified measures of dietary patterns from exploratory factor analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Matthias B. Schulze ,
Kurt Hoffmann ,
Anja Kroke  and
Heiner Boeing
Matthias B. Schulze*
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, 14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
Kurt Hoffmann
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, 14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
Anja Kroke
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, 14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
Heiner Boeing
Affiliation:
German Institute of Human Nutrition, Department of Epidemiology, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114–116, 14558 Bergholz-Rehbruecke, Germany
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Matthias B. Schulze, fax +49 33200 88 444, email mschulze@www.dife.de
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Abstract

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Exploratory factor analysis might work well in elucidating the major dietary patterns prevailing in specific study populations. However, patterns extracted in one study population and their associations with disease risk cannot be reproduced with this data-specific method in other study populations. To construct less population-dependent pattern variables of similar content as original exploratory patterns, we proposed to derive so-called simplified pattern variables. They represent the sum of the unweighted standardised food variables which loaded high at the pattern of interest. Data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study suggest that these simplified pattern variables might adequately approximate factor analysis-based dietary patterns. A simplified pattern variable based on the six highest loading food variables showed a correlation >0·95 with the originally derived factor score, which consisted of forty-seven food variables. Moreover, simplified pattern variables might adequately approximate patterns across different study populations. A simplified pattern variable showed similar factor loadings, ranging from 0·34 to 0·52, as well as similar associations with nutrient intake as a ‘western’ pattern originally reported from an US study population. These simplified pattern variables can subsequently be used to study pattern associations with disease risk, especially in multi-centre studies. It is therefore an approach that might overcome one of the most frequently claimed limitations of factor analyses applied in epidemiology: their non-comparable risk estimates.

Keywords

Dietary patternsFood habitsFactor analysisReproducibility of results
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , March 2003 , pp. 409 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2003

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