‘How Do You Remember You Ate…?’: A Delphi Technique Study to Identify Retrieval Categories From Fourth-Grade Children

Objective To develop and validate a consensus set of retrieval categories for how children remember what they have eaten, and to relate retrieval categories to accuracy of reporting items eaten during school lunch.Design A Delphi technique study was conducted using 10 psychologists. The subject matter consisted of responses transcribed from interviews conducted with 89 randomly selected fourth graders within 90 minutes of eating. Retrieval categories were evaluated for accuracy by comparing students’ self-reported lunch intake with observation.Statistical analyses For round 1, a centroid hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify common sets of rating pairs to propose categories for reaching consensus. For rounds 2 and 3, percent of agreement was calculated. Accuracy was tabulated across meal items and student use by retrieval category.Results After round 3, we found that 23 “near-consensus”categories were used by at least eight raters. Six categories were used 60% of the time, 4 were used 20% of the time, and 5 were used 15% of the time. Less frequently used categories were combined with similar, more frequently used categories for a total of 16 categories. Students used a large variety of retrieval categories when accurately reporting consumption. Of the 16 categories, 12 were used similarly by both accurate and inaccurate students. Where there were differences in accuracy by retrieval category, the more accurate students used “taste/smell/texture”and “visual”in deference to “order items consumed”and “oral cue still present.”Applications These categories provide insight into the broad range of retrieval categories that children use and provide direction for researchers to design and study specific cues to enhance the accuracy of children's self-reports of diet. J Am Diet Assoc. 1997;97:31–36.     

Accuracy of Equations to Predict Basal Metabolic Rate in Older Women

Objective To assess the accuracy of several published equations for predicting basal metabolic rate (BMR) in older women.

Design BMR was assessed in 116 healthy, older white women, aged 60 to 82 years, on three successive mornings by indirect calorimetry. Body composition was determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry or hydrostatic weighing. The measured BMRs were compared with values obtained from eight published prediction equations that used solely, or in various combinations, measures of height, weight, fat-free mass, age, and menopausal status.

Statistical analyses performed The root mean squared prediction error (RMSPE) was used to determine how accurately predicted BMR matched actual BMR for each subject. In addition, regression analysis was used to evaluate accuracy of predicted BMR vs directly measured BMR.

Results Predicted mean BMR determined using all eight equations was significantly correlated to measured BMR (P=.0001), accounting for 30% to 52% of the variance of measured BMR. When analyzed by RMSPE, however, the equations of Owen et al (1986), Fredrix et al (1990), and Harris-Benedict (1919) predicted actual BMR for each subject within an average of 116 kcal/day, and the equation of Cunningham (1980) resulted in the largest prediction error at 208 kcal/day.

Applications/conclusions The regression equations of Owen et al (1986), which used body weight, Fredrix et al (1990), which used body weight and age, and Harris-Benedict (1919), which used age, weight, and height as variables, were most accurate in predicting BMR in our sample of healthy older women. J Am Diet Assoc. 1995; 95:1387-1392.     

肾母细胞瘤和左侧下腔静脉的病例报道，一个具有外科意义的正常变异的常见肿瘤

作者报道1例成功实施了手术切除的右肾肾母细胞瘤病例,术前影像学检查碰巧同时发现下腔静脉走行于左侧。据作者所知,在以前的文献中尚无这两种情况同时发生的报道。在此强调该病的诊断特点和磁共振的价值。作者也回顾了大量静脉畸形的文献和畸形对这些患者实施外科手术的影响。