Short communication Comparison of 150-mm versus 100-mm visual analogue scales in free living adult subjects § Jean-Philippe Chaput *, Jo-Anne Gilbert, Nikolaj T. Gregersen, Sue D. Pedersen, Anders M. Sjo ¨ din Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 30, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark Introduction Visual analogue scales (VAS) are widely used to quantify subjective appetite sensations, with lines of varying length. In the field of obesity research, horizontal lines of 100 mm or 150 mm are generally used, with both lengths giving valid results (Drapeau et al., 2005; Flint, Raben, Blundell, & Astrup, 2000; Hill & Blundell, 1982). The lines are anchored at the two ends with the extremes of the subjective feeling to be quantified. Subjects are asked to make a mark across the line corresponding to their feelings, and quantification of the measurement is done by measuring the distance from the left end of the line to the mark. However, the absence of consensus regarding the optimal length of the line for VAS may be problematic for the comparison of results obtained between studies using different lengths of VAS. Our research group recently quantified the impact of weight/fat loss on appetite sensations in response to a calorie-restricted diet (Gilbert, Drapeau, Astrup, & Tremblay, 2009). This study showed that there is a significant association between the decrease in body fat mass and the change in fasting appetite sensations, emphasiz- ing the clinical usefulness of VAS in identifying individuals at risk of weight regain as well as potentially poor weight-loss responders for subsequent interventions. These results also establish a reference point for the evaluation of a satiating agent, or comparison of satiating effects of diets of different macronutrient distributions, that could be tested during weight-loss interven- tions. The latter study utilized 150-mm VAS to measure appetite sensations; it is thus unknown whether these results can be compared to scores obtained from 100-mm scales. Accordingly, this study aimed at verifying whether appetite sensation scores obtained from 150-mm VAS can be compared to those obtained from 100-mm scales. Methods Subjects and procedures Thirty healthy volunteers, 19 women and 11 men, were recruited and consented to participate in this within-subject calibration study. Volunteers were recruited from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and included students, health profes- sionals, teachers, and secretaries. No financial compensation was provided for their participation. Five of them did not return the VAS, resulting in a final sample of 25 participants (mean age: 42.2  13.3 years, mean body mass index: 22.9  2.3 kg/m 2 ). Ethical permission for the study was granted by the Municipal Ethical Committee of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg in accordance with the Helsinki-II declaration. On one occasion, the participants recorded their appetite sensations before lunch (11:45) and at five additional time points Appetite 54 (2010) 583–586 ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received 9 December 2009 Received in revised form 18 January 2010 Accepted 28 January 2010 Keywords: Appetite sensations Hunger Satiety Validity VAS ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to verify whether appetite sensation scores obtained from 150-mm visual analogue scales (VAS) can be compared to those obtained from 100-mm scales. On one occasion, using a within-subject design, 25 participants (mean age: 42.2  13.3 years, mean body mass index: 22.9  2.3 kg/ m 2 ) recorded their appetite sensations before lunch, and at five additional time points during the postprandial period. At each time point, both VAS (150 mm and 100 mm) were used to record desire to eat, hunger, fullness, satiety, and prospective food consumption. The VAS in the same booklet were completed immediately one after the other in a randomized order to eliminate the order effect. We observed that the immediate, successive completion of questionnaires varying in length resulted in no significant difference in appetite markers, with a strong linear relationship between the two tools (r from 0.80 to 0.98, P < 0.01). We conclude that VAS scores obtained from 150-mm to 100-mm length scales are interchangeable, both before and in response to a meal. ß 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. § We express our gratitude to the subjects for their participation in this study. The authors declared no conflict of interest. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: jepc@life.ku.dk (J.-P. Chaput). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Appetite journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/appet 0195-6663/$ – see front matter ß 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.01.016