Assessing the reliability of the LEAF-Q and FAST questionnaire on measuring low energy availability in active females.

You are being invited to take part in a research study.  Before you decide it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve.  Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish.  Ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.  Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.

Thank you for reading this.

What is the purpose of the study?

We are trying to determine the reliability of the FAST and LEAF-Q questionnaires. These are two questionnaires (combined onto one survey) which are used to work out if active women show any risk of eating disorders, disordered eating (overly restrictive eating) or low energy availability. For this study we will ask you to complete exactly the same survey twice, two weeks apart to assess how reliable the survey is, rather than your risk.

Why have I been chosen?

It is important that we assess as many participants as possible, and you have indicated that you are interested in taking part in this study.  We need females between 18 and 44 years old who regularly compete in a sport at any competitive level. You must compete on average once a week during the season in a formal competition, although this can also be amateur level, through to professional.
What will I have to do?

The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete and consists of a variety of questions assessing your attitudes towards food and exercise, your digestive health, your menstrual health and contraceptive use and your injury history.

We will also ask you to provide an email address. This is so we can contact you to complete the second part of the project. This will be about 2 weeks after you complete the first and will be identical to the first. You may receive up to 3 reminder emails to complete the study, but no more. Your contact details will not be shared with anyone and will be stored on secure accounts. You will be contacted by someone at a ‘mdx.ac.uk’ email address.

Please answer the questions as honestly as possible. It is really important that you complete the second part of the survey, as we cannot use your answers without it.

What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?

This survey contains some questions associated to restrictive eating and eating disorders, including questions on contraceptive use, menstrual health and attitudes towards food. We hope this will not cause distress, but please do stop taking part if it does.

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

The research team has put a number of procedures in place to protect the confidentiality of participants. You will be allocated a participant code that will always be used to identify any data you provide. Your name or other personal details will not be associated with your data, for example, the consent form that you sign will be kept separate from your data. All paper records will be stored in a locked filing cabinet, accessible only to the research team, and all electronic data will be stored on a password protected computer. All information you provide will be treated in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

The results of the research study will be used as part of an PhD project. The results may also be presented at conferences or in journal articles. However, the data will only be used by members of the research team and at no point will your personal information or data be revealed.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this important research. Please do let me know if you have any questions.
Kat Watson
k.paice@mdx.ac.uk
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