A Validation Study of the Web-Based Physical Activity Questionnaire Active-Q Against the GENEA Accelerometer

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Physical Activity Assessment
• Health Outcomes Research

Background:

• Valid physical activity assessment is crucial for epidemiological studies.
• Understanding physical activity levels helps in studying associations with various health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Web-based Active-Q questionnaire against GENEA accelerometer data.
• To assess the reproducibility of the Active-Q questionnaire through test-retest reliability.

Main Methods:

• 148 men (aged 33-86) completed Active-Q twice and wore an accelerometer for 7 days on two occasions.
• Assessed time spent in sedentary, light (LPA), moderate (MPA), and vigorous (VPA) physical activity, including sedentary-to-light and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) categories.
• Validity analyzed using Spearman correlations and Bland-Altman method; reproducibility assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Main Results:

• Statistically significant validity correlations found for all activity levels (sedentary r=0.19 to VPA r=0.54).
• Bland-Altman plots indicated differences in reported activity durations compared to accelerometer data.
• Test-retest reliability (ICCs) for Active-Q ranged from r=0.51 to 0.80 across different activity levels.

Conclusions:

• Active-Q tended to report more moderate-to-vigorous activities and less light activity compared to accelerometer measurements.
• The Active-Q questionnaire demonstrates comparable validity and reproducibility to existing physical activity assessment tools.