Practical nutrition assessment in primary care settings: A review

Background: Poor dietary and physical activity habits account for 300,000 deaths per year. Interventions in the primary care setting offer promise for effecting change on a broad scale. However, to conduct counseling, primary care providers need quick, accurate, and efficient assessment tools that are practical for a health care setting. Methods: We reviewed 18 dietary measures for use in primary care that were brief (less than 50 items) and easy to administer, score, and interpret. The macronutrients assessed by the measure and the psychometric properties, if given, are reported. Results: In general, reliability and validity coefficients were slightly lower than more detailed instruments (i.e., food frequency questionnaires, diet recall); however, they are acceptable within this clinical setting. Conclusions: Providers can benefit from using these tools to assess current dietary patterns and to guide patient counseling. Future measures should focus on additional nutritional topics (e.g., calcium deficiency) and sensitivity to change over time.