Reliability and validity of the Hindi version of international physical activity questionnaire-long-form (IPAQ-LF)

IPAQ-LF is a widely used tool for subjective assessment of physical activity. It has been translated, cross-culturally adapted into many languages and tested in many countries around the world. However, no Hindi version of the long-form of this questionnaire exists till date.

To cross-culturally adapt the IPAQ-LF from English to Hindi language and to evaluate its reliability and validity.

The guidelines by IPAQ Committee were followed for cross-cultural adaptation process. The Test-retest reliability was assessed on 60 participants by administering Hindi IPAQ-LF twice within two-week time frame. The construct validity was assessed by comparing with seven-day pedometer recording.

Excellent reliability was observed between total physical activity scores on repeated Hindi IPAQ-LF administrations, with interclass correlation coefficient of 0.963 at 95% confidence interval. The ICC for job, transport, Housework and Leisure domain was calculated to be 0.923, 0.839, 0.862 and 0.939, respectively, suggesting excellent reliability. The Cronbach's alpha computed (0.82) suggests good internal consistency. The Hindi Version of IPAQ-LF also demonstrated good construct validity with Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.783. Bland-Altman analyses were performed to evaluate the level of agreement between two constructs.

The study demonstrates that Hindi version of IPAQ-LF is a reliable and valid tool for assessing physical activity levels for Hindi speaking population.