Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a sugar consumption score for rural Haiti through correlation of test-retest scores derived from a structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire, the Haitian Sugar Consumption (HSC) Questionnaire. Methods: A structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire of sugar consumption was developed for rural Haiti to achieve contextual validity as studies of dental caries should account for sugar consumption as a potential confounder or effect modifier of other exposure-caries associations. The resulting HSC questionnaire consisted of 15 questions divided into two parts: 1) questions of the child on his/her direct consumption of sugar products frequency; and, 2) questions to the mother on sugar additions by care-givers to the child's food preparation. A test-retest, one week apart, was conducted on the HSC questionnaire on a sample of 30 mother-child pairs (children ages 9-17). Test-retest correlations and paired t-testing were conducted to assess the questionnaire's reliability. Results: All test-retest (Part 1, children's questions; Part 2, mother's questions; the combined scores) had Pearson product and intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.7 and 0.08 or greater, respectively. All test-retest scores had paired t-test p-values „d 0.95. The mean age of the 30 children (14 males and 16 females) was 14 years old (SD: 2.3 years. Conclusions: A reliable, contextually valid relative sugar consumption questionnaire specific for rural Haiti, the HSC has been developed. This questionnaire and methodology employed in its development and testing may have utility for dental caries researchers in investigations in less developed countries. Supported by NIDCR/NIH R01 DE014708 & NIDCR/NIH T32 DE007255

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