Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T22:34:49.059Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The utility of focus group interviews to capture dietary consumption data in the distant past: dairy consumption in Kazakhstan villages 50 years ago

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2010

M. Schwerin ,
S. Schonfeld ,
V. Drozdovitch ,
K. Akimzhanov ,
D. Aldyngurov ,
A. Bouville ,
C. Land ,
N. Luckyanov ,
K. Mabuchi  and
Y. Semenova
...Show all authors
M. Schwerin*
Affiliation:
RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
S. Schonfeld
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
V. Drozdovitch
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
K. Akimzhanov
Affiliation:
Government Semipalatinsk State Medical University, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
D. Aldyngurov
Affiliation:
Government Semipalatinsk State Medical University, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
A. Bouville
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
C. Land
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
N. Luckyanov
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
K. Mabuchi
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
Y. Semenova
Affiliation:
Government Semipalatinsk State Medical University, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
S. Simon
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
A. Tokaeva
Affiliation:
Government Semipalatinsk State Medical University, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
Z. Zhumadilov
Affiliation:
Government Semipalatinsk State Medical University, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan
N. Potischman
Affiliation:
National Cancer Institute – Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Bethesda, MD, USA
*
Address for correspondence: M. Schwerin, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA. (Email [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

From 1949 to 1962, residents of several villages in Kazakhstan received substantial doses of radiation to the thyroid gland resulting from nuclear tests conducted at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site. The primary source of radiation was internal from an intake of radioactive iodine by consumption of contaminated dairy products. A previous research study of childhood exposure and thyroid disease in this region gathered limited data on study participants’ dairy intake at the time of the fallout for the purpose of estimating past radiation doses. As many participants were too young at the time of the nuclear tests to recall dietary consumption and existing sources of archival data are limited, it was necessary to interview parents and other village residents who cared for children during this time – older adults ranging in age from 75 to 90 years. Results from 11 focus group interviews conducted in 2007 with 82 women from 4 villages in Kazakhstan yielded group-level estimates of age-, gender-, ethnicity- and village-specific dairy consumption patterns in rural Kazakhstan during the 1950s. Children typically consumed cow’s milk with limited consumption of mare, goat and sheep milk; and consumed dairy products such as sour milk (airan), soft cottage cheese (tvorog) and fermented mare milk (koumiss) with the greatest amounts of koumiss reported at ages 15–21 years. The consumption patterns differed by age, and between Kazakh and Russian children, which should lead to different estimates of radiation exposure to the thyroid. This study showed the utility of focus groups to obtain quantitative estimates for dietary intake in the distant past.

Keywords

dietepidemiologyfocus group interviewKazakhstanolder respondentsradiation exposure
Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , June 2010 , pp. 192 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Carr, ZA, Bouville, A, Luckyanov, N, et al. Thyroid disease prevalence and fallout exposure in Kazakhstan. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Dosimetry of the Population Living in the Proximity of the Semipalatinsk Atomic Weapons Test Site (STUK-A187) (eds. Lindholm C, Simon S and Makar B), 2002; pp. 55–61. STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Helsinki, Sweden.Google Scholar
2. Grosche, B, Land, C, Bauer, S, et al. Fallout from nuclear tests: health effects in Kazakhstan. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2002; 41, 75–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Land, CE, Zhumadilov, Z, Gusev, BI, et al. Ultrasound-detected thyroid nodule prevalence and radiation dose from fallout. Radiat Res. 2008; 169, 373–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Chavarro, JE, Michels, KB, Sheherazadh, I, et al. Validity of maternal recall of preschool diet after 43 years. Am J Epidemiol. 2009; 169, 1148–1157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Kitzinger, J. Qualitative research. Introducing focus groups. Br Med J. 1995; 311, 299–302.Google Scholar
6. Krueger, R. Focus groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 3rd edn, 2000. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
7. Lakshman, M, Charles, M, Biswas, M, et al. Focus group discussions in medical research. Indian J Pediatr. 2000; 67, 358–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Brown, P, Keenan, JM, Potts, GR. The self-reference effect with imagery encoding. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986; 51, 897–906.Google Scholar
9. Ervin, RB, Smiciklas-Wright, H. Using encoding and retrieval strategies to improve 24-hour dietary recalls among older adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998; 98, 989–994.Google Scholar
10. Klein, SB, Kihlstrom, JF. Elaboration, organization, and the self-reference effect in memory. J Exp Psychol Gen. 1986; 115, 26–38.Google Scholar
11. Klein, SB, Loftus, J. The nature of self-referent encoding: the contributions of elaborative and organizational processes. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988; 55, 5–11.Google Scholar
12. Klein, SB, Loftus, J, Burton, HA. Two self-reference effects: the importance of distinguishing between self-descriptiveness judgments and autobiographical retrieval in self-referent encoding. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1989; 56, 853–865.Google Scholar
13. McDonough, IM, Gallo, DA. Autobiographical elaboration reduces memory distortion: cognitive operations and the distinctiveness heuristic. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2008; 34, 1430–1445.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Rogers, TB, Kuiper, NA, Kirker, WS. Self-reference and encoding of personal information. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1977; 35, 677–688.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Smith, RE, Hunt, RR. Distinctive processing improves memory for recent autobiographical events. In Trends in Experimental Psychology Research (ed. Rosen DT), 2005; pp. 269–281. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY.Google Scholar
16. Edmunds, H. The Focus Group Research Handbook, 1999. NTC Business Books, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
17. Merton, R, Fiske, M, Kendall, P. The Focused Interview: A Manual of Problems and Procedures, 2nd edn, 1990. Free Press, New York, NY.Google Scholar
18. Morgan, DL, Krueger, RA. The Focus Group Kit, 1997. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.Google Scholar
19. Edmonds, VM. The nutritional patterns of recently immigrated Honduran women. J Transcult Nurs. 2005; 16, 226–235.Google Scholar
20. Elmubarak, E, Bromfield, E, Bovell-Benjamin, AC. Focused interviews with Sudanese Americans: perceptions about diet, nutrition, and cancer. Prev Med. 2005; 40, 502–509.Google Scholar
21. Hargreaves, MK, Schlundt, DG, Buchowski, MS. Contextual factors influencing the eating behaviors of African American women: a focus group investigation. Ethn Health. 2002; 7, 133–147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. Jonsson, IM, Hallbert, LR-M, Gustafsson, I-B. Cultural foodways in Sweden: repeated focus group interviews with Somalian women. Int J Consum Stud. 2002; 26, 328–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Jonsson, IM, Wallin, A-M, Hallbert, LR-M, et al. Choice of food and food traditions in pre-war Bosnia-Herzegovina: focus group interviews with immigrant women in Sweden. Ethn Health. 2002; 7, 149–161.Google Scholar
24. Kruger, R, Gericke, GJ. A qualitative exploration of rural feeding and weaning practices, knowledge and attitudes on nutrition. Pub Health Nutr. 2003; 6, 217–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Satia, JA, Patterson, RE, Taylor, VM, et al. Use of qualitative methods to study diet, acculturation, and health in Chinese-American women. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000; 100, 934–940.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26. Brewer, WF. What is autobiographical memory? In Autobiographical Memory (ed. Rubin DC), 1986; pp. 25–49. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27. Brewer, WF. Autobiographical memory and survey research. In Autobiographical Memory and the Validity of Retrospective Reports (eds. Schwarz N and Sudman S), 1994; pp. 11–20. Springer-Verlag, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. Tourangeau, R. Cognitive sciences and survey methods. In Cognitive Aspects of Survey Methodology: Building a Bridge Between Disciplines (eds. Jabine T, Straf M, Tanur J, et al.), 1984; pp. 73–100. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
29. Willett, WC, Lenart, E. Reproducibility and validity of food-frequency questionnaires. In Nutritional Epidemiology (ed. Willett WC), 2nd edn, 1998; pp. 101–147. Oxford University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30. Dwyer, JT, Coleman, KA. Insights into dietary recall from a longitudinal study: accuracy over four decades. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997; 65(Suppl), 1153S–1158S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31. Marshall, JR. Commentary: about that measurement problem. Int J Epidemiol. 2005; 34, 1376–1377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32. Wu, ML, Whittemore, AS, Jung, DL. Errors in reported dietary intakes. II. Long-term recall. Am J Epidemiol. 1988; 128, 1137–1145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33. Bakkum, A, Bloemberg, B, van Staveren, WA, et al. The relative validity of a retrospective estimate of food consumption based on a current dietary history and a food frequency list. Nutr Cancer. 1988; 11, 41–53.Google Scholar
34. Byers, T, Rosenthal, R, Marshall, J, et al. Dietary history from the distant past: a methodological study. Nutr Cancer. 1983; 5, 69–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. Dwyer, JT, Gardner, J, Halvorsen, K, et al. Memory of food intake in the distant past. Am J Epidemiol. 1989; 130, 1033–1046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36. Friedenreich, CM, Slimani, N, Riboli, E. Measurement of past diet: review of previous and proposed methods. Epidemiol Rev. 1992; 14, 177–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37. Jensen, OM, Wahrendorf, J, Rosenqvist, A, et al. The reliability of questionnaire-derived historical dietary information and temporal stability of food habits in individuals. Am J Epidemiol. 1984; 120, 281–290.Google Scholar
38. Rohan, TE, Potter, JD. Retrospective assessment of dietary intake. Am J Epidemiol. 1984; 120, 876–887.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39. Thompson, FE, Metzner, HL, Lamphiear, DE, et al. Characteristics of individuals and long term reproducibility of dietary reports: The Tecumseh Diet Methodology Study. J Clin Epidemiol. 1990; 43, 1169–1178.Google Scholar
40. van Staveren, W, West, C, Hoffmans, M, et al. Comparison of contemporaneous and retrospective estimates of food consumption made by a dietary history method. Am J Epidemiol. 1986; 123, 884–893.Google Scholar
41. Ambrosini, GL, van Roosbroeck, SAH, Mackerras, D, et al. The reliability of ten-year dietary recall: implications for cancer research. J Nutr. 2003; 133, 2663–2668.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42. Byers, T, Marshall, J, Anthony, E, et al. The reliability of dietary history from the distant past. Am J Epidemiol. 1987; 125, 999–1011.Google Scholar
43. Jain, M, Howe, GR, Harrison, L, et al. A study of repeatability of dietary data over a seven-year period. Am J Epidemiol. 1989; 129, 422–429.Google Scholar
44. Linsted, KD, Kuzma, JW. Reliability of eight-year diet recall in cancer cases and controls. Epidemiology. 1990; 1, 392–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45. Willett, WC, Sampson, L, Browne, ML, et al. The use of a self-administered questionnaire to assess diet four years in the past. Am J Epidemiol. 1988; 127, 188–199.Google Scholar
46. Maruti, SS, Feskanich, D, Colditz, GA, et al. Adult recall of adolescent diet: reproducibility and comparison with maternal reporting. Am J Epidemiol. 2005; 161, 89–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
47. Pietinen, P, Hartman, AM, Haapa, E, et al. Reproducibility and validity of dietary assessment instruments. II. A qualitative food frequency questionnaire. Am J Epidemiol. 1988; 128, 667–676.Google Scholar
48. Wolk, A, Bergstrom, R, Hansson, LE, et al. Reliability of retrospective information on diet 20 years ago and consistency of independent measurements of remote adolescent diet. Nutr Cancer. 1997; 29, 234–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
49. Block, G, Thompson, FE, Harman, AM, et al. Comparison of two dietary questionnaires validated against multiple dietary records collected during a 1-year period. J Am Diet Assoc. 1992; 92, 686–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
50. Frazier, AL, Willett, WC, Colditz, GA. Reproducibility of recall of adolescent diet: Nurses’ Health Study (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 1995; 6, 499–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
51. Frobisher, C, Tilling, K, Emmett, PM, et al. Reproducibility measures and their effect on diet-cancer associations in the Boyd Orr Cohort. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2007; 61, 434–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
52. Gordeev, K, Vasilenko, I, Lebedev, A, et al. Fallout from nuclear tests: dosimetry in Kazakhstan. Radiat Environ Biophys. 2002; 41, 61–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53. Maynard-Tucker, G. Conducting focus groups in developing countries: skill training for local bilingual facilitators. Qual Health Res. 2000; 10, 396–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
54. American Psychological Association. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edn, 2001. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
55. Cook, TD, Campbell, DT. Quasi-experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings, 1979. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
56. Smith, AF, Jobe, JB, Mingay, DJ. Retrieval from memory of dietary information. Appl Cogn Psychol. 1991; 5, 269–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar