Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Perceived Diet Quality Questionnaire

Background/Objectives: Perceived diet quality (PDQ), measured with a single question, has been linked to better cardiometabolic health indicators. However, no published comprehensive tool to measure PDQ exists. Therefore, the objective of this study was to describe the development and initial psychometric evaluation of a novel tool to measure perceived diet quality (PDQ).

Methods

Development included focus groups (n = 27) and thematic analysis. Psychometric evaluation included expert reviews (n = 3), cognitive interviews (n = 13), and online cross-sectional nonexperimental survey (n = 605). Eleven items—with 3 addressing perceived diet quality based on qualitative, graded, and numeric ratings, and satisfaction with diet healthfulness, balanced meals, meal planning/preparation, nutrition knowledge, home cooking vs. eating out/takeout, food label use, difficulty eating healthy, and guilt/regret about food choices comprising the other items. Analysis included exploratory factor analysis, concurrent and convergent validity, and construct reliability.