Accuracy of different reduced versions of a validated food-frequency questionnaire in italian men and women.

This study aimed to explore how possible it would be to reduce the length of a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) while maintaining adequate accuracy. This FFQ was validated in women in a previous study by our group, whereas the validation in men was one of the aims of the present study. A 15-item FFQ was administered to 136 men and 211 women (age range 25-75 years) recruited by proportional age-stratified sampling, who agreed to fill in a 14-day diet diary. For the intermediate version of the FFQ we considered only eight items in women and 10 in men. For the very short version we considered only three items. The positive likelihood ratio was markedly lower for the very short version (men = 1.2 and women = 1.5) with respect to the intermediate version (men = 6 and women = 6.3) and the 15-item version (men = 19.6 and women = 19.9). The specificity of the very short version was low (22.2% for men and 35.2% for women). The area under ROC curve of the three-item FFQ was significantly lower with respect to the other two versions. In conclusion, our study suggests that the shortest version of the FFQ could be usefully employed only in those clinical settings where the main objective is the identification of individuals who do not have a low calcium intake. ROC analysis and posttest probability calculated by positive likelihood ratio may represent an optimal method for assessing the accuracy of FFQs.

The effects on lipid serum levels of a 2-year adjuvant treatment with exemestane after tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The third-generation aromatase inhibitor exemestane represents a new development in the treatment of estrogen-positive breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects on lipid profile and body composition of the shift from tamoxifen to exemestane. METHODS: After 2-3 years of tamoxifen adjuvant treatment, 68 postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to either continue tamoxifen 20 mg/day (n = 35) or to switch to exemestane 25 mg/day (n = 33). RESULTS: No significant changes in lipid profile were found in patients continuing on tamoxifen. In the exemestane group, serum HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) decreased significantly (p < 0.01) and serum LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) increased significantly (p < 0.05) with respect to baseline. The difference between the two groups was significant. Moreover, in the exemestane group, fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) showed an opposite trend, which determined a progressive and significant increase in the FFM/FM ratio. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the choice of first-line treatment or adjuvant therapy for breast cancer should also take the individual lipid and body composition profile into account.

Validation of a food frequency questionnaire for nutritional calcium intake assessment in Italian women.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a food frequency questionnaire assessing calcium intake in women. DESIGN: : Estimates of calcium intake from the food frequency questionnaire were compared with those from 14 day records from 206 Caucasian women aged 25-75 y in Siena, Italy. SUBJECTS: Subjects were randomly recruited from the residents list of the city of Siena, Italy. Of the 250 initially recruited, 39 did not meet the inclusion criteria or failed to complete the diet record and five outliers were excluded before the statistical analysis on the basis that their diet record was unlikely to represent habitual intake. RESULTS: Mean dietary calcium intakes were 829+/-255 (s.d.) mg/day from the questionnaire and 818+/-260 (s.d.) mg/day from the diet record. The mean difference in intake by the two methods (-11.3+/-116.4 mg/day) did not differ significantly from zero. Specificity in classifying women consuming less than 800 mg/day calcium was 86.6%, and sensibility in classifying women consuming more than 800 mg/day calcium was 89.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The food frequency questionnaire could be used in epidemiological studies to assess calcium intake in young to elderly women. The specificity in identifying low calcium intake subjects makes it useful also as an educational tool in diet counselling and for prescribing calcium supplementation.

Relevance of hydration state of the fat free mass in estimating fat mass by body impedance analysis.

Body impedance analysis (BIA) is widely used to assess body composition, however, accurate estimates of fat mass (FM) are sometimes rendered impossible due to over- or dehydration states. In fact, BIA is accurate in total body water (TBW) estimates, and TBW can be converted into fat free mass (FFM) assuming 73% hydration; but, if there is an alteration in the hydration state, such a fixed value does not fit with the real content of fluids in the FFM compartment, thus causing wrong estimates of FFM and in turn of FM. For this reason, phase-sensitive bioelectric analyzers operating at a single frequency or at multiple frequencies have recently been under investigation in order to produce an equation that is also able to estimate the volume of extracellular water (ECW). Some authors, rather than trying to find the best equation or the best instrument approach, have tested the direct use of resistance, reactance and phase angle values derived from 50 kHz impedance measurements, assuming that normal bioelectrical values are associated with normal hydration states. Using a large series of data we have found strong correlations between BIA-derived FM and BMI, and our data show that screening the subjects with normal hydration states using the direct bioelectrical parameters (BIAGRAM) improves the predictivity of standard equations, since it avoids trying to estimate FM in overhydrated subjects.

Treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis with recombinant human growth hormone and salmon calcitonin: a placebo controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: The usefulness of GH in the treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis (PMO) is still debated. We have studied the effects of recombinant human GH (rhGH) given alone or in combination with salmon calcitonin (sCT) in the treatment of PMO. PATIENTS: Thirty women with established PMO (aged 61.1 +/- 4.4 years) were divided into 3 groups of 10 and randomly assigned to 3 treatment sequences: rhGH (12IU/day) s.c. for 7 days, followed by sCT (50 IU/day) s.c. for 21 days and by 61 days without treatment (group 1); placebo for 7 days, followed by sCT for 21 days and by 61 days without treatment (group 2); rhGH for 7 days, followed by placebo for 21 days, and by 61 days without treatment (group 3). Each cycle was repeated 8 times (24 months). MEASUREMENTS: At days 0, 8, 29 and 90 of each cycle, serum IGF-I, calcium, phosphate, osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase and urinary excretion of calcium, hydroxyproline and pyridinoline cross-links (Pyr) were measured. At months 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24, bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by dualphoton absorptiometry (DPA), at lumbar spine (LS), femoral shaft (F) and distal radius (DR). RESULTS: A significant increase in serum osteocalcin and urinary calcium, hydroxyproline and Pyr was detected after each rhGH period. In group 1, BMD at lumbar spine increased by 2.5% at year 2; in contrast, significant (P < 0.05) decreases in BMD-LS values were found in patients treated with CT and placebo (group 2) and with GH and placebo (group 3). BMD-F did not show any significant change in patients of group 2, but a significant (P < 0.05) decrease was found in groups 1 and 3. BMD-DR did not show any significant change with respect to baseline in any of the three groups. No significant difference between the three groups was found in bone mass at the three different regions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that treatment with rhGH increases bone turnover in postmenopausal osteoporotic women. Combined treatment with rhGH and CT over a period of 24 months is able to maintain bone mass at lumbar spine and distal radius, but induces a decline at femoral shaft; therefore, it does not seem particularly useful in the therapy of post-menopausal osteoporosis.