Multifactor Screener in the Observing Protein & Energy Nutrition (OPEN) Study

The Multifactor Screener may be useful to assess approximate intakes of fruits and vegetables, percentage energy from fat, and fiber. The screener asks respondents to report how frequently they consume foods in 16 categories. The screener also asks one question about the type of milk consumed. No portion size questions are asked. This screener does not attempt to assess total diet.

The foods selected to compose the screener were identified through an analysis of USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII), a nationally representative survey of the food intakes of the US population available from the USDA's Food Surveys Research Group. NCI's Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch staff used stepwise regression to identify the food groups that would best predict the three dietary exposures. Some of the foods in the screener predict all three exposures; some predict only one or two of the exposures.

The Multifactor Screener was self-administered in the OPEN study. An interviewer-administered version was used in the 2000 NHIS Cancer Control Supplement.

The process of scoring the individual response data is described in Scoring Procedures. A SAS program is included. Guidelines for the appropriate uses of the screener-estimated dietary intakes are the same as those described in Uses of Screener Estimates in the 2000 NHIS Cancer Control Supplement. Validation data for the Multifactor Screener in OPEN is presented in Validation Results. The data dictionary for the screener is available in RTF and PDF formats.