Reliability and validity of a questionnaire to assess carbohydrate counting skills, knowledge of heart-healthy foods, and nutrition label-reading skills in adults with diabetes

Diabetes mellitus affects the metabolism of carbohydrates, thus patients should monitor carbohydrate intake and eat a heart-healthy diet using nutrition labels. To assess carbohydrate counting skills, knowledge of heart-healthy diet, and nutrition label-reading skills the Heart-Healthy Carb Quiz (HHCQ) was developed and assessed for its validity and reliability in adults with diabetes. Data were analyzed for 55 subjects; average age was 41.7 +/- 17.6 years and 29 participants were women. Thirty-six participants had type 1 diabetes and 19 had type 2; average duration of diabetes was 14.3 +/- 12.3 years. Average HbA1c was 8.0% +/- 2.0%. HHCQ total scores correlated significantly with CarbQuiz total scores (r=0.39, p = 0.003) and the HHCQ demonstrated good stability in the test-retest measure (r=0.74, p = 0.001) (both assessed using a Pearson product-moment correlation). Cronbach alpha was 0.70; inter-item total correlation was 0.45. This study supports the validity and reliability of the HHCQ.