Comparison of repeatability of subjective appetite sensations in men and women at different menstrual cycle phase.

Abstract

Introduction: Introduction: appetite can be measured through subjective sensations of appetite (SSA), which can be assessed by means of scales, the most relevant being the visual analog scales (VAS). Objective: to analyze the repeatability of VAS in men and women in follicular phase (FF) and luteal phase (LF) of the menstrual cycle Materials and methods: 34 men and women were included. VAS of subjective appetite sensations (SAS) were applied before and after standardized breakfast in two sessions. Results: women LP showed intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values greater than 0.5, and most of VAS in women FP and men showed ICC values greater than 0.7. The ICC of hunger and desire to eat were different between men and women LP. Comparisons of these ICC´s showed that only hunger and desire to eat were different between men and women. Conclusion: repeatability of VAS was similar between men and women in different stages of menstrual cycle. This is the first study to assess repeatability of VAS in women in LP and to objectively compare the repeatability of VAS to evaluate SAS.