Adaptation and validation of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) among Polish adolescents: cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe lack of a widely accepted questionnaire used to assess the physical activity (PA) of adolescents in the Polish language creates a need to introduce such a valid, reliable, inexpensive and quick tool for assessment. This study was designed to culturally adapt and validate the Physical Activity Questionnaires for Adolescents (PAQ-A) in the Polish language.DesignCross-sectional study.Participants and outcome measuresCultural adaptation of the Polish version of the PAQ-A was performed following the standardised questionnaires cultural adaptation process. In a sample of 78 adolescents aged 14–19 years, the PAQ-A test–retest was administered within a 1-week interval. Reliability was analysed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency with Cronbach’s α. Participants completed the PAQ-A, and wore an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. The PAQ-A was compared with PA parameters obtained using the accelerometer.ResultsTest–retest reliability showed ICC=0.97 for the total score of PAQ-A. Internal consistency was excellent (α=0.93). The PAQ-A was very strongly correlated with steps per day (r=0.94) and with moderate-to-vigorous PA (r=0.81) assessed by the accelerometer.ConclusionsThe Polish version of the PAQ-A is a valuable tool to estimate general levels of PA among adolescents from 14 to 19 years old.

Assessing the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ–A): Specific and General Insights from an Ethiopian Context

“…Congruent with this endorsement, Wyszyńska et al [17] recently obtained impressive psychometric results when administering the PAQ-A to a sample of 78 Polish school students. After data of two students who indicated reduced PA in the previous week had been removed, the lowest item-total correlation was 0.43 and 75% of the item-total correlations exceeded 0.50, coefficient alpha was 0.93, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) associated with testretest reliability was 0.97, and high correlations (0.81 and 0.94) were obtained with accelerometer results.…”

“…The PAQ-A is free of copyright constraints, inexpensive to produce, easy and quick to administer, and easy to respond to and score. It is also modifiable according to contexts in which it is administered, which could account for research with the PAQ-A having been conducted in a range of countries, including Brazil [9], Canada [10][11][12][13], Ghana [14], Nigeria [15,16], Poland [17], Spain [18,19], the Netherlands [20], the UK [21,22], and the USA [23,24].…”

Validity and Reliability of the Modified Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) among Malaysian Youth

“…However, as with the study of human behaviour, the patterns of physical activity behaviour and the accuracy of self-report may be influenced by gender, cultural or ethnic backgrounds. Thus, it is important for researchers to use valid and reliable instrument for each population, and many researchers have adapted established questionnaire to be used in their population [11][12][13][14][15]. Testing the validity and reliability of a modified PAQ-A for the Malaysian population will allow researchers to have a comparable self-report instrument in which to measure physical activity among adolescents.…”

Active Parents–Active Children—A Study among Families with Children and Adolescents with Down Syndrome

“…The children’s, siblings’ and parents’ PA were reported and not measured, which is a limitation. A combination of self-reported and measured PA by accelerometers would have been optimal [ 62 , 63 ]. However, we did not have the possibility to use accelerometers.…”