Concurrent Validity Between Electronically Administered Physical Activity Questionnaires and Objectively Measured...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Exercise Science
• Biomedical Measurement

Background:

• Accurate assessment of physical activity is crucial for older adults' health.
• Questionnaires like IPAQ-SF and NPAQ-short are commonly used but require validation against objective measures.
• Understanding the validity of these tools is essential for reliable health research and interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the concurrent validity of the IPAQ-SF and NPAQ-short.
• To compare questionnaire-based physical activity data with objectively measured daily steps in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-four older adults participated in the study.
• Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (ρ) was used to compare IPAQ-SF and NPAQ-short scores with daily steps measured by Garmin Vivofit 3 devices.
• Analysis included correlations for various physical activity components and World Health Organization compliance categories.

Main Results:

• Most subscales of IPAQ-SF and NPAQ-short demonstrated little to no correlation with daily steps.
• IPAQ-SF's metabolic equivalent of task (MET) minutes showed a moderate to good correlation with daily steps.
• Categorization compliance with World Health Organization guidelines differed between questionnaires, with small magnitude differences.

Conclusions:

• The concurrent validity of IPAQ-SF and NPAQ-short against objectively measured daily steps in older adults is low.
• These questionnaires may not reliably capture the physical activity levels of older adults when compared to step counts.