Biomarker-predicted sugars intake compared with self-reported measures in US Hispanics/Latinos: results from the HCHS/SOL SOLNAS study

Objective: Measurement error in self-reported total sugars intake may obscure associations between sugars consumption and health outcomes, and the sum of 24 h urinary sucrose and fructose may serve as a predictive biomarker of total sugars intake. Design: The Study of Latinos: Nutrition & Physical Activity Assessment Study (SOLNAS) was an ancillary study to the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) cohort. Doubly labelled water and 24 h urinary sucrose and fructose were used as biomarkers of energy and sugars intake, respectively. Participants' diets were assessed by up to three 24 h recalls (88% had two or more recalls). Procedures were repeated approximately 6 months after the initial visit among a subset of ninety-six participants. Setting: Four centres (Bronx, NY; Chicago, IL; Miami, FL; San Diego, CA) across the USA. Subjects: Men and women (n 477) aged 18-74 years. Results: The geometric mean of total sugars was 167.5 (95% CI 154.4, 181.7) g/d for the biomarker-predicted and 90.6 (95% CI 87.6, 93.6) g/d for the self-reported total sugars intake. Self-reported total sugars intake was not correlated with biomarker-predicted sugars intake (r=-0.06, P=0.20, n 450). Among the reliability sample (n 90), the reproducibility coefficient was 0 59 for biomarker-predicted and 0 20 for self-reported total sugars intake. Conclusions: Possible explanations for the lack of association between biomarker-predicted and self-reported sugars intake include measurement error in self-reported diet, high intra-individual variability in sugars intake, and/or urinary sucrose and fructose may not be a suitable proxy for total sugars intake in this study population.