Background: Training, travel, and competition can make an athlete's fluid needs different from the general population. As such, there is a need for an acceptable tool to determine the unique beverage intake habits of athletes. The BEVQ-15 is one such tool to determine beverage intake over time but has not yet been confirmed for accuracy in college athletes.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the beverage questionnaire (BEVQ-15) for measuring fluid intake in collegiate NCAA athletes.

Design: Athletes were recruited from two NCAA Division I universities. The individuals in this study (n=61) completed two short BEVQ-15 surveys plus three dietary recall interviews administered by trained diet technicians to compare the surveys against. The two surveys were administered at least three days apart and the 24-hour dietary recalls included two weekdays and one weekend day.

Results: This study included 61 athletes at the conclusion. Comparing the BEVQ-15 to the 24-hour recall standard, Spearman's rho correlation tests found that 7 of the 15 categories are significant at P≤0.01 when comparing fluid ounces, while 5 of the 14 categories are significant at P≤0.01 when comparing kcal consumed. An additional 3 categories for both ounces and kcal consumed are significant at P≤0.05. With these findings, validity criteria are met. Fruit juice, sweetened fruit juice, low fat milk, diet soft drinks, sweetened tea or coffee, and hard liquor are not strongly correlated between testing methods in the collegiate athlete population. Pearson correlations demonstrated significant reliability comparing BEVQ-15 responses of test one and two for all but one category for ounces consumed and three for calories consumed at P≤0.01. The results of Bland-Altman suggested acceptable limits of agreement between the two measures. Follow up linear regression models indicated no proportional bias.

Conclusions: The BEVQ-15 is a valid tool for the assessment of beverage intake in an NCAA Division I athlete population. As such, the BEVQ-15 may be a useful tool for assessing beverage intake and patterns in collegiate athletes.