Validity and Reproducibility of a Self-Administered Semi-Quantitative Food-Frequency Questionnaire for Estimating Usual Daily Fat, Fibre, Alcohol, Caffeine and Theobromine Intakes among Belgian Post-Menopausal Women

A novel food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed and validated to assess the usual daily fat, saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acid, fibre, alcohol, caffeine, and theobromine intakes among Belgian post-menopausal women participating in dietary intervention trials with phyto-oestrogens. The relative validity of the FFQ was estimated by comparison with 7 day (d) estimated diet records (EDR, n 64) and its reproducibility was evaluated by repeated administrations 6 weeks apart (n 79). Although the questionnaire underestimated significantly all intakes compared to the 7 d EDR, it had a good ranking ability (r 0.47–0.94; weighted κ 0.25–0.66) and it could reliably distinguish extreme intakes for all the estimated nutrients, except for saturated fatty acids. Furthermore, the correlation between repeated administrations was high (r 0.71–0.87) with a maximal misclassification of 7% (weighted κ 0.33–0.80). In conclusion, these results compare favourably with those reported by others and indicate that the FFQ is a satisfactorily reliable and valid instrument for ranking individuals within this study population

Modeling the effect of age in T1-2 breast cancer using the SEER database

BACKGROUND: Modeling the relationship between age and mortality for breast cancer patients may have important prognostic and therapeutic implications. METHODS: Data from 9 registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) of the United States were used. This study employed proportional hazards to model mortality in women with T1-2 breast cancers. The residuals of the model were used to examine the effect of age on mortality. This procedure was applied to node-negative (N0) and node-positive (N+) patients. All causes mortality and breast cancer specific mortality were evaluated. RESULTS: The relationship between age and mortality is biphasic. For both N0 and N+ patients among the T1-2 group, the analysis suggested two age components. One component is linear and corresponds to a natural increase of mortality with each year of age. The other component is quasi-quadratic and is centered around age 50. This component contributes to an increased risk of mortality as age increases beyond 50. It suggests a hormonally related process: the farther from menopause in either direction, the more prognosis is adversely influenced by the quasi-quadratic component. There is a complex relationship between hormone receptor status and other prognostic factors, like age. CONCLUSION: The present analysis confirms the findings of many epidemiological and clinical trials that the relationship between age and mortality is biphasic. Compared with older patients, young women experience an abnormally high risk of death. Among elderly patients, the risk of death from breast cancer does not decrease with increasing age. These facts are important in the discussion of options for adjuvant treatment with breast cancer patients

Nutritional quality and acceptability of a weekly vegetarian lunch in primary-school canteens in Ghent, Belgium: 'Thursday Veggie Day'

Objectives: To determine the nutritional adequacy and acceptability to children of vegetarian lunches served on 'Thursday Veggie Day' - a public health initiative in Ghent (Belgium) primary schools. Design: A comparison of food leftovers from main courses on regular days and Thursdays was made using a visual plate waste method. The nutritional value of the vegetarian meat analogue and meat components of main courses served on five 'Thursday Veggie Days' and five comparable conventional main courses was evaluated using three criteria (maximum 30% of energy from fat, maximum of one-third of fat as saturated fat and minimum 1.5 g of dietary fibre per 420 kJ). Setting: Two canteens from primary schools in Ghent, Belgium, participating in the 'Thursday Veggie Day' campaign. Subjects: Primary-school children aged between 6 and 12 years. Results: In total, 1242 and 472 main course plate waste observations of conventional and vegetarian menus, respectively, were evaluated. There was no significant difference in plate waste between vegetarian (16.7%) and conventional (17.3%) main courses. Overall, the five vegetarian components were found to be nutritionally adequate with a mean score of 2.2 out of 3, compared with 0.4 for the meat component. However, three of the vegetarian components provided >30% of energy from fat and, in one, the amount of saturated fat exceeded one-third of total fat. Conclusions: Vegetarian canteen meals offered as part of 'Thursday Veggie Day' appear to be nutritionally appropriate and as acceptable as conventional main courses to children in primary schools in Ghent

Unadjusted breast cancer mortality as a function of the estimated log odds of nodal involvement in T1–T2 breast cancer

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Ratios of involved nodes in early breast cancer"</p><p>Breast Cancer Research 2004;6(6):R680-R688.</p><p>Published online 6 Oct 2004</p><p>PMCID:PMC1064081.</p><p>Copyright © 2004 Vinh-Hung et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd</p> Red dots are node-negative patients, and blue are node-positive patients. The smallest dots represent 1–20 patients and the largest dots represent >200 patients. The straight lines highlight the different slopes but should not be interpreted as the basis for extrapolation (they would extrapolate to 100% mortalities)

Unadjusted breast-cancer mortality as a function of the percentage of involved nodes in T1–T2 breast cancer based on the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) program data

<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Ratios of involved nodes in early breast cancer"</p><p>Breast Cancer Research 2004;6(6):R680-R688.</p><p>Published online 6 Oct 2004</p><p>PMCID:PMC1064081.</p><p>Copyright © 2004 Vinh-Hung et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd</p> Dot size computed as a step function of the number of patients at risk: smallest dots 1–20 patients and the largest dots >200 patients. The straight line highlights the trend but should not be interpreted as the basis for extrapolation