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Reliability and validity of the occupational physical activity questionnaire
Jared P Reis1, Katrina D Dubose, Barbara E Ainsworth
1Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
|December 7, 2005
Summary
The Occupational Physical Activity Questionnaire (OPAQ) demonstrates good reliability and validity for assessing workplace physical activity. This tool is suitable for research and surveillance of occupational behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Epidemiology
- Physical Activity Research
Background:
- Population-based surveillance of occupational physical activity (PA) is limited by the lack of validated questionnaires.
- Existing tools often do not adequately capture the duration of specific occupational PA behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the test-retest reliability and validity of the Occupational Physical Activity Questionnaire (OPAQ).
- To assess the OPAQ's ability to measure occupational sitting/standing, walking, and heavy labor durations.
Main Methods:
- Convenience sample of 41 adults across diverse occupations.
- Evaluated 2-week test-retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC).
- Assessed criterion and construct validity against occupational PA records, Actigraph data, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body fat percentage.
Main Results:
- OPAQ demonstrated good test-retest reliability (ICC 0.55-0.91).
- Fair-to-substantial criterion validity was found for sitting/standing (r=0.37), walking (r=0.74), and heavy labor (r=0.31).
- Substantial convergent validity (kappa=0.71) was observed with the BRFSS occupational PA question.
Conclusions:
- The OPAQ exhibits comparable reliability and validity to existing occupational PA questionnaires.
- Findings support the OPAQ's utility in research and surveillance of occupational physical activity.
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