Abstract 029: The Automated Self-Administered 24-Hour Dietary Recall (ASA24): A Research Resource from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Abstract

Introduction: Extensive evidence has demonstrated that 24-hour dietary recalls (24HRs) provide high-quality dietary intake data with minimal bias, making them the preferred tool for nutrition monitoring and, potentially, for studying diet and disease associations. Traditional 24HRs, however, are expensive and impractical for large-scale research because they rely on trained interviewers, and require multiple administrations to estimate usual intakes. To address these challenges, NCI developed ASA24. System: The ASA24 system is a publicly available web-based software tool that enables automated and self-administered 24HRs for epidemiologic, intervention, behavioral, or clinical research. ASA24 consists of a Respondent application used by participants to enter recall data and a Researcher application used by researchers to manage study logistics and obtain nutrient and food level data. The format and design of the Respondent application are modeled on USDA’s interviewer-administered Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM) 24HR, which uses multi-level food probes to assess food types and amounts. A Beta version of ASA24, released in 2009, has been used by over 100 researchers to collect over 20,000 recalls. Version 1 of ASA24, released in September 2011, offers improved functionality, features, and usability. Respondents report their intakes using a list of foods and beverages from USDA’s most current Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS 4.1). Multiple images are shown to help respondents estimate portion size. ASA24 allows respondents to: 1) find foods and beverages by browsing or searching, 2) move or copy a food or beverage to a different meal, edit a meal, adjust reported amounts, or correct double reports, 3) review a final list of the day’s intake, and 4) access help. Resulting data files include food codes, nutrients, and MyPyramid food group equivalents for each day and each food, as well as variables to calculate Healthy Eating Index scores. Additional optional modules querying location of meals, who one ate with, TV/computer use during meals, and supplement intake are available, as well as a Spanish language version. Evaluation: ASA24 will be compared to traditional interviewer-administered recalls in a large sample of adults and within a smaller feeding study. The measurement error structure of ASA24 will be evaluated against doubly-labeled water and multiple 24-hour urinary nitrogen collections in three large on-going cohorts (NCI’s AARP Diet and Health Study, and Harvard’s Nurses Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study). Conclusion: ASA24 has the potential to improve dietary assessment by enhancing the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of collecting high-quality dietary data.