Validation of the Visual/Verbal Analogue Scale of Food Ingesta (Ingesta-VVAS) in Oncology Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

This study aimed to: (1) externally validate the Visual/Verbal Analogue Scale of food ingesta (ingesta-VVAS) that previously showed good discrimination between oncology patients who ingest more or less energy than required; (2) explore the discriminative properties of other questions. Dietitians performed 322 interviews in 206 adult oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy in two Dutch hospitals, including a 24-h dietary recall, assessment of the ingesta-VVAS and 12 additional questions related to reduced food intake. The ingesta-VVAS score was linearly associated with energy intake as % of Total Energy Expenditure (TEE) (standardized beta = 0.39, p < 0.001), with no differences between groups based on use of oral nutritional supplements, body mass index, in/outpatient setting or sex. The accuracy of the ingesta-VVAS score to predict low energy intake (