Study protocol: the empirical investigation of methods to correct for measurement error in biobanks with dietary assessment

Study protocol: the empirical investigation of methods to correct for measurement error in biobanks with dietary assessment

BMC Medical Research Methodology, October 2011

21974830

Derrick A Bennett, Julian Little, Lindsey F Masson, Cosetta Minelli

The Public Population Project in Genomics (P3G) is an organisation that aims to promote collaboration between researchers in the field of population-based genomics. The main objectives of P3G are to encourage collaboration between researchers and biobankers, optimize study design, promote the harmonization of information use in biobanks, and facilitate transfer of knowledge between interested parties. The importance of calibration and harmonisation of methods for environmental exposure assessment to allow pooling of data across studies in the evaluation of gene-environment interactions has been recognised by P3G, which has set up a methodological group on calibration with the aim of; 1) reviewing the published methodological literature on measurement error correction methods with assumptions and methods of implementation; 2) reviewing the evidence available from published nutritional epidemiological studies that have used a calibration approach; 3) disseminating information in the form of a comparison chart on approaches to perform calibration studies and how to obtain correction factors in order to support research groups collaborating within the P3G network that are unfamiliar with the methods employed; 4) with application to the field of nutritional epidemiology, including gene-diet interactions, ultimately developing a inventory of the typical correction factors for various nutrients.