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Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
Comparison of the college alumnus questionnaire physical activity index with objective monitoring
Scott J Strath1, David R Bassett, Ann M Swartz
1Department of Health and Exercise Science, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. sstrath@uwm.edu
Purpose:
Two methods of measuring physical activity (PA) were compared over a consecutive 7-day period among 25 adults (12 men and 13 women).
Methods:
Each day estimates of energy expended in light, moderate, vigorous, and total PA were derived from the simultaneous heart-rate motion sensor (HR+M) technique. At the end of the 7-day period participants completed the College Alumnus Questionnaire Physical Activity Index (CAQ-PAI) and results were compared with HR+M technique estimates.
Results:
Correlations between the two methods in the four activity categories ranged from r=0.20 to r=0.47, with vigorous and total PA showing higher associations than light and moderate PA. Mean levels of PA (MET-minxwk(-1)) obtained using the two methods were similar in the moderate and vigorous categories, but individual differences were large. Energy expended in light PA was significantly underestimated on the CAQ-PAI, resulting in lower total activity scores on this questionnaire as compared with the HR+M.
Conclusions:
The CAQ-PAI accurately reflected mean moderate and vigorous activity in comparison with the HR+M technique. The results are consistent with other studies which have shown that physical activity questionnaires are better at assessing vigorous PA than ubiquitous light-moderate activities.
