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Starting the conversation: performance of a brief dietary assessment and intervention tool for health professionals
Effective dietary assessment tools are crucial for preventing and managing chronic diseases. The Starting The Conversation (STC) tool, comprising eight items, serves as a simplified food frequency questionnaire suitable for primary care and health promotion. This report focuses on assessing STC’s feasibility, validity, and responsiveness to dietary interventions.
The study used data from a practical efficacy trial involving 463 participants diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Conducted from 2008 to 2010, the analysis was completed in 2010, enabling evaluation of the STC’s performance across various aspects, including validity, reliability, and sensitivity to change over a four-month period.
Results indicated that STC items and the overall summary score exhibited solid performance, showcasing moderate intercorrelation (r = 0.39–0.59, p < 0.05). Notably, the STC summary score correlated significantly with the National Cancer Institute fat screener at baseline (r = 0.39, p < 0.05). Additionally, a shift in the STC score was associated with a decrease in calories derived from fat (r = 0.22, p < 0.05) from baseline to the four-month mark. The intervention group demonstrated a greater improvement in the summary score than controls (M = 1.16 vs 0.46, p < 0.05), indicating STC’s sensitivity to dietary changes resulting from the intervention.
In conclusion, the STC tool is a straightforward, valid, and effective tool for dietary assessment in clinical settings. Available in both English and Spanish, it offers potential for widespread use, prompting recommendations for further evaluation in diverse settings and through various dietary interventions. [NPID: Assessment, conversation, food frequency questionnaire, primary care]
Year: 2026
