Construct validity and test-retest reliability of a chrononutrition questionnaire for shift work and non-shift work populations

Apr 26, 2024Chronobiology international

How well a meal-timing questionnaire works and stays consistent for shift workers and others

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Abstract

116 participants (44.5 ± 16.5 years, BMI: 27.3 ± 5.8 kg/m) were enrolled to assess the reliability and validity of the Chrononutrition Questionnaire (CNQ).

The CNQ demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability for chronotype, sleep, and most eating patterns in the general population.
Good convergent validity was observed for chronotype and sleep among non-shift workers, though exceptions were noted on certain days.
Meal and snack regularity, frequency, and timing of eating occasions showed good validity for the general population, but not for shift workers.
The duration of the eating window (DEW) was valid except for work-free days and afternoon shifts.
The CNQ may require further validation regarding eating patterns, especially among a larger sample of shift workers.

AI simplified

The irregular eating patterns of both shift workers and evening chronotypes adversely affect cardiometabolic health. A tool that conveniently captures temporal patterns of eating alongside an indicator of circadian rhythm such as chronotype will enable researchers to explore relationships with diverse health outcome measures. We aimed to investigate the test-retest reliability and convergent validity of a Chrononutrition Questionnaire (CNQ) that captures temporal patterns of eating and chronotype in the general population (non-shift workers, university students, retirees, unemployed individuals) and shift work population. Participants attended two face-to-face/virtual sessions and completed the CNQ and food/sleep/work diaries. Outcomes included subjective chronotype, wake/sleep/mid-sleep time, sleep duration, meal/snack regularity, meal/snack/total frequency, times of first/last/largest eating occasions (EO), main meal (MM) 1/2/3, and duration of eating window (DEW). 116 participants enrolled (44.5 ± 16.5 years, BMI: 27.3 ± 5.8 kg/m, 73% female, 52% general population); 105 completed the study. Reliability was acceptable for chronotype, sleep, and all temporal eating patterns except on night shifts. Convergent validity was good for chronotype and sleep except for certain shift/shift-free days. Generally, meal/snack regularity and frequency, and times of first/last EO showed good validity for the general population but not shift workers. Validity was good for DEW (except work-free days and afternoon shifts) and times of MM 1/2/3 (except afternoon and night shifts), while time of largest EO had poor validity. The CNQ has good test-retest reliability and acceptable convergent validity for the general and shift work population, although it will benefit from further validation, especially regarding regularity, frequency, and times of first and last eating occasions across more days amongst a larger sample size of shift workers. Use of the CNQ by researchers will expand our current understanding of chrononutrition as relationships between timing of food intake and the multitude of health outcomes are examined. 2

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

Construct validity and test-retest reliability of a chrononutrition questionnaire for shift work and non-shift work populations

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief