ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: There is little information about the validity of questionnaires used by research related to obesity. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of a cardiovascular risk questionnaire and perception of body size pictorials (BSP) measured in Mexican obese subjects. This was a cross-sectional study designed as two independent phases. The aims were: a) To calculate a concordance index between questionnaires and clinical records. b) To measure the reliability of the questionnaire and BSP by test-retest. Phase one: Eighty-four subjects were invited to answer the questionnaire (the average age was 46.1 +/- 14.9 years, BMI 36.4 +/- 7.2). The concordance obtained for heart attack, type 2 diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure was greater than kappa 0.6. High uric acid, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia showed low concordance. Phase two: One hundred and two subjects were invited (the average age was 50.8 +/- 14.4 years, IMC 35.6 +/- 6.8). A high concordance in test-retest (ri = 0.71, p < 0.001) and for correlation coefficients between BSP and BMI (r = 0.72, p < 0.01) was found. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that this questionnaire is reliable and data regarding diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart attack and high blood pressure are accurate in people who have been treated in hospital. Obese subjects are able to classify with accuracy their own BSP and that of other individuals. This kind of perception was not altered.
