Psychometric Properties of the Online International Physical Activity Questionnaire in College Students

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in studies based on online surveys. However, there are important concerns about the validity and generalizability of results from online surveys. Thus, we aimed to test the reliability and validity of the online version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire short form (IPAQ-SF) among college students from low-income regions. Methods: This was a methodological feasibility study with a random stratified sample from a college located in the state of Maranhão in the city of Imperatriz (Brazil). The sample consisted of 195 college students (at least 17 years of age) to evaluate the validity and 117 students to evaluate the reliability. All data were collected in a self-reported online format (via Google Forms) twice, with an interval of 2 weeks. We used Spearman’s correlation analysis for the reliability study. Additionally, we applied exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the structural validity. Results: The questionnaire showed acceptable (rho > 0.30) and significant (p < 0.05) reliability, except for the question about the duration of sitting time on a weekend day. When assessing the construct validity (exploratory analysis), we identified a single factor that explained 88.8% of the variance. The 1-factor model showed acceptable model fit (SRMR = 0.039; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.90) in confirmatory analysis. Conclusions: The online version of the IPAQ-SF has acceptable reliability among college students from low-income regions and maintains the structure of the construct regarding to physical activity.

Psychometric properties of the online Satisfaction with Life Scale in university students from a low-income region

“…The study belongs to a multicenter observational longitudinal project entitled 24-h Movement Behavior and Metabolic Syndrome (24 h-MESYN) and was conducted in the 2021 academic year. Detailed information about the 24 h-MESYN study can be found elsewhere (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ).…”

“…Anticipating losses and rejections of 50% (Morgado et al, 2017 ), in the test-rest assessment, we established a minimum sample of 170 students for the study of the psychometric properties of the SWLS . However, this phase of the 24 h-MESYN project was designed to test the psychometric properties of another five subjective tools (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ) such as the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ) and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (Carvalho et al, 2023 ), for example. Thus, according to the sample parameters of the SWLS and the aforementioned tools, we established inviting 342 students to achieve an acceptable level of statistical power (e.g., sample power of 80.0%) for the psychometric assessments for all tested tools (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ).…”

“…However, this phase of the 24 h-MESYN project was designed to test the psychometric properties of another five subjective tools (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ) such as the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ) and the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (Carvalho et al, 2023 ), for example. Thus, according to the sample parameters of the SWLS and the aforementioned tools, we established inviting 342 students to achieve an acceptable level of statistical power (e.g., sample power of 80.0%) for the psychometric assessments for all tested tools (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ). Next, we conducted a stratified random sampling (Szklo & Nieto, 2014 ) based on previous cohorts (Barbosa et al, 2016 ; Cena et al, 2021 ) with the following strata: sex (at least 60.0% for females), age (at least 25.0% for students up to 20 years of age), and study program (at least 60.0% in the health area) in order to achieve sample diversity.…”

“…Previously, the researchers participated in a training program with 20 h of field work for standardization of data collection, training about how to explain the project, initial invitation, and remote contacts with the students. During this training, we also conducted a questionnaire review (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2022a , 2022b ). The training was offered and supervised at the institution where the data were collected by scientists experienced in this type of study (Nascimento-Ferreira et al, 2018a , 2018b ).…”

Comparison of activity level between normal adolescent and adolescent receiving penicillin injection post rheumatic fever: a case control study.

“…These studies suggest that the IPAQ-SF is a valid and reliable tool for assessing physical activity levels in different populations. [5][6][7][8] The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form in Arabic has undergone validation and been determined to be dependable. A study conducted on 624 Saudi Arabian university students participated in the study, which contrasted the Arabic SBQ with the IPAQ abbreviation.…”