The IPAQ instruments have acceptable measurement properties, at least as good as other established self-reports. Considering the diverse samples in this study, IPAQ has reasonable measurement properties for monitoring population levels of physical activity among 18- to 65-yr-old adults in diverse settings. The short IPAQ form "last 7 d recall" is recommended for national monitoring and the long form for research requiring more detailed assessment.

No abstract

Sedentary behavior should be explicitly measured in population surveillance and research instead of being defined by lack of physical activity.

Intervention exposure resulted in increased frequency of PA and walking for exercise in postnatal women.

Objective: To assess the test-retest reliability and validity of a modified selfadministered version of the Active Australia physical activity survey.

No abstract

This study confirms the importance of measuring domain- and day-specific sitting time. The measurement properties of questions that assess structured domain-specific and weekday sitting time were acceptable and may be used in future studies that aim to elucidate associations between domain-specific sitting and health outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of a brief physical activity assessment tool suitable for doctors to use to identify inactive patients in the primary care setting. Methods: Volunteer family doctors (n = 8) screened consenting patients (n = 75) for physical activity participation using a brief physical activity assessment tool. Inter-rater reliability was assessed within one week (n = 71). Validity was assessed against an objective physical activity monitor (computer science and applications accelerometer; n = 42). Results: The brief physical activity assessment tool produced repeatable estimates of ''sufficient total physical activity'', correctly classifying over 76% of cases (k 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33 to 0.72). The validity coefficient was reasonable (k 0.40, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.69), with good percentage agreement (71%). Conclusions: The brief physical activity assessment tool is a reliable instrument, with validity similar to that of more detailed self report measures of physical activity. It is a tool that can be used efficiently in routine primary healthcare services to identify insufficiently active patients who may need physical activity advice. P hysical activity is now recognised as an important health enhancing behaviour.1 Primary care doctors have been identified by the community as the preferred source of information about physical activity.2 Efficacy studies have repeatedly shown that brief advice from a doctor can result in positive, albeit short term, changes in behaviour.3 However, a weakness found in many of the studies reviewed was that interventions were not tested in routine care and in many cases relied on the assistance of third parties (research assistants, receptionists) to identify insufficiently active patients for the doctor to counsel. These methods may be necessary in intervention trials, but for physical activity counselling to be widely adopted in routine practice, family doctors need to be able to measure and monitor their patients' physical activity levels.In a recent Australian study, 4 it was difficult for the doctors to have sufficient time to assess their patients' physical activity using a standard physical activity questionnaire. Family doctors are time pressured, thus a brief tool that is reliable and valid is required. The tool also needs to specifically identify whether patients are meeting physical activity guidelines, 1 which recommend that adults should accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most (preferably all) days of the week, or, for added fitness related benefits, 20 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity on at least three occasions a week is recommended.Prochaska et al 5 developed and evaluated a physical activity assessment tool suitable for use with adolescents in primary care. However, given there are specific physical activity guidelines for adolescents, this tool is not suitable for adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of a brief physical activit...