Reproducibility and Validity of an Epidemiologic Questionnaire to Assess Past Year Physical Activity in Adolescents

Abstract

The reproducibility and validity of a past year physical activity questionnaire was determined in a sample of 100 adolescents aged 15-18 years, randomly selected from a population-based cohort. Subjects completed four 7-day recalls of activity approximately 3 months apart. The average of the four 7-day recalls of activity was utilized as the "gold standard" against which the past year questionnaire was compared to evaluate validity. The questionnaire was also validated against objective measures, such as physical fitness and body mass index. Interscholastic team rosters were utilized to directly validate the reporting of specific activities. One-month and one-year test-retest reproducibility of the questionnaire were determined. For different measures of activity, the Spearman correlations between the questionnaire and the average of the 7-day recalls ranged from 0.55 to 0.67 in males and 0.73 to 0.83 in females, all significant at p < 0.01. In general, although there was no association between the past year activity questionnaire results and objective measures, there was a significant, albeit weak association between the physical activity questionnaire and time to complete a 1-mile (1.61-km) run (r = -0.47) in females. Subjects reported participating in specific interscholastic sports with an accuracy of 100%, 86%, and 95% for the fall, winter, and spring sports, respectively. Test-retest reproducibility was higher over one month (r = 0.79) than over one year (r = 0.66). These data provide evidence that the questionnaire yields a reasonable estimate of past year or "habitual" physical activity in adolescents.

Musculoskeletal abnormalities of the tibia in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

“…Calcium intake estimates (24) and data on past-year physical activity (25) were also obtained by questionnaire. The latter was used to estimate metabolic hours of weight-bearing physical activity in the previous year.…”

“…Muscle cross-sectional area was used to examine the bone-muscle relationship (25), and the pSSI, a modification of the bone strength index (27), was used to assess bone strength. The pSSI is calculated as follows: (cross-sectional moment of inertia, or bone resistance to bending ϫ bone stiffness calculated by cortical vBMD)/maximum BMD.…”

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“…The Past-Year Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire 16 was used to assess participation in physical activity. In this questionnaire, children were encouraged to recall the total time spent during the past year on school physical education, organized sport and other leisure-time activities.…”

Relationships of physical activity with metabolic syndrome features and low-grade inflammation in adolescents

“…The adolescents' physical activity was assessed with the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents [20].…”

“…h/week, with 15 MET.h/week corresponding to the median PAE of students practising at least one activity. The validity of the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents has been tested against the average of four 7-day recalls of activity and different measures of physical fitness in 100 randomly selected 15-to 18-year-old adolescents [20]. The results of this study provide evidence that the questionnaire yields a reasonable estimate of past-year physical activity with Spearman correlations between the questionnaire and the average of the three 7-day recalls ranging from 0.55 to 0.83 for different measures of physical activity, and a good 1-month test-retest reproducibility (intraclass correlation of 0.66).…”