An Integrated FMEA-TOPSIS Approach and Its Application in Prioritizing Barriers to Nutrition Knowledge

Abstract

Inadequate nutrition knowledge can hinder individuals' ability to understand, evaluate, and appropriately use nutrition information, yet existing research has paid comparatively less attention to systematically prioritizing the barriers underlying this problem. This study develops an integrated Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), variance-based weighting, and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) framework for prioritizing barriers to nutrition knowledge among Vietnamese adults. Candidate barriers were identified from the nutrition and food-literacy literature and subjected to expert validation using a modified Delphi procedure. Eight multidisciplinary experts were specified using predefined criteria related to academic qualifications, professional experience, and expertise in nutrition, food science, public health, medicine, or health communication. Eight barriers were subsequently evaluated using two FMEA criteria: occurrence and severity. To address the equal-weighting and discrimination limitations of conventional Risk Priority Number calculations, statistical variance was employed to derive objective criterion weights, followed by TOPSIS to determine the relative priority of each barrier. In the illustrative application, occurrence received an objective weight of 0.572, while severity received a weight of 0.428. The resulting TOPSIS ranking placed exposure to nutrition misinformation first, followed by low ability to evaluate nutrition information, reliance on social and informal information sources, and commercial and misleading nutrition claims. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the two highest-priority barriers remained stable under alternative weighting scenarios. The proposed framework provides a transparent and reproducible approach for converting expert knowledge into a quantitative priority structure and offers a methodological basis for developing targeted nutrition-information and health-promotion interventions in Vietnam. The numerical application presented in this study is illustrative and should be replaced by actual expert assessments for empirical publication.