Comparison of the Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Assessment Questionnaire and the Short-Form International Physical Activity Questionnaire: An Analysis of Health Survey for England Data

Abstract

BackgroundThe Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Assessment Questionnaire (PASBAQ), used within the Health Survey for England (HSE) at 5-yearly intervals, is not included annually due to funding and interview-length constraints. Policy-makers and data-users are keen to consider shorter instruments such as the Short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) for the annual survey. Both questionnaires were administered in HSE 2012, enabling comparative assessment in a random sample of 1252 adults.MethodsRelative agreement using prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted Kappa (PABAK) statistics was estimated for: sufficient aerobic activity (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA] ≥150minutes/week); inactivity (MVPA<30minutes/week); and excessive sitting (≥540minutes/weekday). Cross-sectional associations with health outcomes were compared across tertiles of MVPA and tertiles of sitting time using logistic regression with tests for linear trend.ResultsCompared with PASBAQ data, IPAQ-assessed estimates of sufficient aerobic activity and inactivity were higher and lower, respectively; estimates of excessive sitting were higher. Demographic patterns in prevalence were similar. Agreement using PABAK statistics was fair-to-moderate for sufficient aerobic activity (0.32–0.49), moderate-to-substantial for inactivity (0.42–0.74), and moderate-to-substantial for excessive sitting (0.49–0.75). As with the PASBAQ, IPAQ-assessed MVPA and sitting each showed graded associations with mental well-being (women: P for trend = 0.003 and 0.004, respectively) and obesity (women: P for trend = 0.007 and 0.014, respectively).ConclusionsCapturing habitual physical activity and sedentary behaviour through brief questionnaires is complex. Differences in prevalence estimates can reflect differences in questionnaire structure and content rather than differences in reported behaviour. Treating all IPAQ-assessed walking as moderate-intensity contributed to the differences in prevalence estimates. PASBAQ data will be used for population surveillance every 4 to 5 years. The current version of the Short-form IPAQ was included in HSE 2013–14 to enable more frequent assessment of physical activity and sedentary behaviour; a modified version with different item-ordering and additional questions on walking-pace and effort was included in HSE 2015.

Inequalities in participation and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity: a pooled analysis of the cross-sectional health surveys for England 2008, 2012, and 2016

“…The PASBAQ has demonstrated moderate-weak convergent validity in comparison with non-synchronous accelerometry [22]. PASBAQ assesses frequency (number of days in the last 4 weeks) and duration (of an average episode of at least 10 min) in four leisure-time domains [23]:…”

Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity in Children of a South Asian Ethnicity

“…However, despite such guidelines, population levels of physical activity in children and young people are low. Excluding school based activities, 22% of children aged between 5 and 15 years met the physical activity guidelines of being at least moderately active for at least 60 min every day (23% of boys, 20% of girls) [9]. Several studies have found that physical activity levels differ by ethnicity [10,11].…”

Anthropometry, dietary intake, physical activity and sitting time patterns in adolescents aged 15–17 years: an international comparison in eight Latin American countries

“…Previous studies estimated correlations of 0.23-0.40 between the self-reported data and accelerometer-assessed MVPA [51,54,55]. Questionnaires remain the most feasible method to assess levels of PA at a population level due in part to expensive costs and high respondent burden associated with using device-based methods within large-scale health examination surveys [56].…”