Background: Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been
rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the
context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the
methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We identified nutrient patterns from
food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) in the European Prospective
Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study and used 24-hour
dietary recall (24-HDR) data to validate and describe the nutrient
patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle
factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal
component analysis (PCA) was applied on 23 nutrients derived from
country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312).
Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC
populations (N = 34,436) provided accurate mean group estimates of
nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented
graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good
proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient
patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance:
Principle component (PC) 1 was characterized by a high contribution of
nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients
from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients
and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and
vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and
phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as
derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their
mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from
24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in
pattern scores.
Conclusion/Significance: The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation
and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from
FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research opportunities
and perspectives of using nutrient patterns in future studies
particularly at international level
