Self-reported and tracker-estimated physical activity outcomes in women with chronic pelvic pain disorders: A...

BackgroundFemale chronic pelvic pain disorders (CPPDs) are associated with reduced physical activity (PA), contributing to adverse health outcomes. Accurate assessment of PA in this population is thus clinically important. Although the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) is widely used due to its low burden and cost, its validity in CPPD has not been established.ObjectivesThis study evaluates the construct validity of the short-form IPAQ among women with CPPDs by comparing against objectively-estimated PA outcomesDesignThis is a secondary analysis using a longitudinal, observational design.MethodsThe sample included 966 weeks of data from 112 women with CPPDs in a 14-week mHealth-based study. Participants wore Fitbit® trackers continuously and completed the IPAQ weekly. IPAQ-reported walking, total activity, sitting, light-, moderate-, and vigorous PA minutes were compared to corresponding Fitbit® estimates for concordance and divergence. We evaluated temporal consistency using intraclass correlation coefficients. We used linear mixed-effects regression models with random intercept and slope terms to quantify the magnitude of agreement between the two methods and between-individual variance.ResultsIPAQ walking minutes were associated with Fitbit® step counts, moderate- and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; p <0.05). IPAQ total activity minutes were associated with Fitbit® vigorous- and MVPA (p <0.05). IPAQ moderate PA was predictive of vigorous PA (p = 0.043), adjusted for habitual MVPA. IPAQ-reported sitting minutes were negatively associated with step counts and MVPA (p <0.05). IPAQ sitting minutes were predictive of steps, light PA, and MVPA. Habitual weekly PA level moderated these associations.ConclusionThese findings support using IPAQ-reported PA and sitting minutes to monitor PA minutes in women with CPPDs in research and clinical settings, but indicate that the IPAQ sitting item might not be an appropriate substitute for objective sedentary time estimates. This discrepancy might in part be due to IPAQ's focus on sitting-based activities.Registration statementNot applicable; observational study.