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Published on: March 7, 2019
Validation of a new physical activity questionnaire for a sedentary population
Joel H Rubenstein1, Hal Morgenstern, Joan Kellenberg
1VA Medical Center 111-D, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA. jhr@umich.edu
Background:
Many available physical activity questionnaires (PAQs) are limited due to either focus on recreational activities or burdensome length.
Aims:
We sought to assess the reliability and validity of a new short PAQ that captures all activity types.
Methods:
The 12-item multiple-choice PAQ-M included eight activity domains, providing a total Physical Activity Score (PAS-M) in kcal/kg/week. The new PAQ-M was administered with the previously validated Paffenbarger PAQ to 426 men, ages 50-79, undergoing colon-cancer screening.
Results:
The PAQ-M had excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation = 0.87). The PAS-M was moderately correlated with the Paffenbarger Physical Activity Score (PAS-P) (r = 0.31) and inversely correlated with BMI (r = -0.14) and waist circumference (r = -0.17). Adenoma prevalence was inversely associated with the PAS-M (3rd vs. 1st tertile adjusted odds ratio, 0.46; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.84) but not with the PAS-P.
Conclusions:
Our new short physical activity questionnaire has excellent test-retest reliability, and was correlated moderately with a widely used physical activity questionnaire and obesity measures. Furthermore, the new PAQ was a better predictor of adenoma prevalence in the expected direction than the Paffenbarger questionnaire in this largely sedentary population.
