Evaluating physical activity: the AQAP questionnaire and its interpretation software.

Area of Science:

• Health Promotion
• Epidemiology
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Physical activity is crucial for public health.
• Accurate assessment tools are needed to promote healthy lifestyles.
• Existing questionnaires require adaptation for different linguistic and cultural contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To update and validate the Baecke physical activity questionnaire in French, named AQAP.
• To develop software for personalized interpretation of AQAP results.
• To assess the impact of AQAP and its software on health knowledge and behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Validation involved 702 health consultants (18-79 years) assessing reliability, validity (vs. energy expenditure), and reproducibility.
• Impact on knowledge and behavior was studied in 320 young adults (18-29 years) after two months.

Main Results:

• AQAP demonstrated good reliability (self- vs. interviewer-administered) and validity (correlation with energy expenditure).
• Reproducibility was high, with minimal variation over two weeks.
• Interpretation software led to increased awareness (55%) and physical activity levels (43%) in young adults.

Conclusions:

• The AQAP questionnaire is a satisfactory tool for assessing physical activity in the general population.
• It can complement interventions promoting physical activity and be used in epidemiological studies.
• The associated software enhances awareness and encourages behavior change related to physical activity.