Concurrent and convergent validity of the simple lifestyle indicator questionnaire

Lifestyle issues including physical activity, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, and self-reported stress have all been shown to predispose people to higher risk of cardiovascular disease. This study provides further psychometrics on the Simple Lifestyle Indicator Questionnaire (SLIQ), a short, easy-to-use instrument which measures all these lifestyle characteristics as a single construct. One hundred and ninety-three individuals from St. John's, Newfoundland, and Labrador, Canada completed the SLIQ and reference standards for diet, exercise, stress, and alcohol consumption. The reference standards were a detailed Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ), the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), the SF36 Health Status Questionnaire, and a survey of eight questions from a cardiovascular risk questionnaire. Physical activity score was compared with number of steps on a pedometer. Correlations between scores on the SLIQ and the reference standards were the SLIQ versus DHQ (r = 0.679, P = 0.001), SLIQ versus pedometer (r = 0.455, P = 0.002), SLIQ versus alcohol consumption (r = 0.665, P = 0.001), SLIQ versus SRRS (r = -0.264, P = 0.001), SLIQ versus eight-question risk score (r = 0.475, P = 0.001), and SLIQ versus Question 1 on SF36 (r = 0.303, P = 0.001). The SLIQ is sufficiently valid when compared to reference standards to be useful as a brief assessment of an individual's cardiovascular lifestyle in research and clinical settings.