Predictors for reporting of dietary assessment methods in food-based randomized controlled trials over a ten-year period

The importance of monitoring dietary intake within a randomized controlled trial becomes vital to justification of the study outcomes when the study is food-based. A systematic literature review was conducted to determine how dietary assessment methods used to monitor dietary intake are reported and whether assisted technologies are used in conducting such assessments. OVID and ScienceDirect databases 2000-2010 were searched for food-based, parallel, randomized controlled trials conducted with humans using the search terms "clinical trial," "diet$ intervention" AND "diet$ assessment," "diet$ method$," "intake," "diet history," "food record," "food frequency questionnaire," "FFQ," "food diary," "24-hour recall." A total of 1364 abstracts were reviewed and 243 studies identified. The size of the study and country of origin appear to be the two most common predictors of reporting both the dietary assessment method and details of the form of assessment. The journal in which the study is published has no impact. Information technology use may increase in the future allowing other methods and forms of dietary assessment to be used efficiently.