Development of a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) tool for food and nutritional surveys using Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) in Iran

Development of instruments to measure habitual dietary intake in large epidemiological studies has been investigated extensively. A 168-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), originally developed for Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS), is used widely in Iranian food and nutrition studies. In addition to measurement errors at data recording and entry, the printed form is time consuming and costly, both financially and environmentally. This technical report develops a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) program to collect food and nutrition data using the Iranian 168-item FFQ. The U.S. Census Bureau’s CSPro software is used to construct the CAPI application. The application runs on Android phones, tablets, and computers with Microsoft Windows operating systems (OS). The language of the CAPI is Farsi. This easy to use CAPI attempts to reduce time, cost, and human error in nutrition research at national and subnational level.