Is the MEDFICTS Rapid Dietary Fat Screener Valid for Premenopausal African-American Women?

Abstract Objective To assess the predictive validity of the meats, eggs, dairy, fried foods, fat in baked goods, convenience foods, fats added at the table, and snacks (MEDFICTS) questionnaire, a rapid dietary fat screening instrument, when used with African-American women. Design A case series design was utilized to assess the validity of MEDFICTS compared to the Arizona Food Frequency Questionnaire. Subjects/setting Data for this study were collected from 184 healthy premenopausal African-American women who completed both the MEDFICTS and the Arizona Food Frequency Questionnaire during screening for eligibility in a nutrition intervention study. Statistical analyses performed Analyses of sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to examine the predictive validity of MEDFICTS. Covariates of correctly and incorrectly identified groups were examined with contingency table analysis and t tests. Results MEDFICTS was a statistically significant predictor of dietary fat consumption, but underestimated fat consumption of ≥30%. MEDFICTS’ sensitivity to detect those consuming ≥30% fat was 57.3%, whereas its specificity (detection of those consuming