Validity of 24-h Physical Activity Recall

Abstract

Purpose The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity of an interviewer-administered, 24-hour physical activity recall (PAR) compared to the SenseWear Armband (SWA) for estimation of energy expenditure (EE) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a representative sample of adults. A secondary goal was to compare measurement errors for various demographic sub-groups (gender, age and weight status). Methods A sample of 1347 adults (20–71yrs; 786 females) wore an SWA for a single day and then completed a PAR recalling that previous day’s physical activity. The participants each performed two trials on two randomly selected days across a 2 year time span. The EE and MVPA values for each participant were averaged across the two days. Group-level and individual-level agreement were evaluated using 95% equivalence testing and mean absolute percent error (MAPE), respectively. Results were further examined for sub-groups by gender, age and body mass index (BMI). Results The PAR yielded equivalent estimates of EE (compared to the SWA) for almost all demographic subgroups but none of the comparisons for MVPA were equivalent. Smaller MAPE values were observed for EE (ranges from 10.3% to 15.0%) than for MVPA (ranges from 68.6% to 269.5%), across all comparisons. The PAR yielded underestimates of MVPA for younger, less obese people but overestimates for older, more obese people. Conclusions For EE measurement, the PAR demonstrated good agreement relative to the SWA. However, the use of PAR may result in biased estimates of MVPA both at the group and individual level in adults.

Context of Physical Activity in a Representative Sample of Adults

“…The CATI system incorporated a reduced set of 270 activity codes that were refined using cognitive testing procedures and input from experts in PA recall. A recent study (32) supported the validity and utility of the PAR protocol for capturing PA and EE. Data from the PAR yielded estimates of EE that were equivalent to those observed from the objective monitor.…”

“…11.8%) and high correlations (i.e. 0.83) between the PAR and objective monitor were identified (32). …”

“…A series of semi-structured probes was used to prompt recall and to facilitate accurate recall of the day by the participant. Greater detail is described elsewhere (32). Only data from the PAR collected in Trial 1 were used for the analyses of this study.…”

“…The PAMS project was an NIH-funded study (R01 HL91024-01A1) designed to specifically improve the accuracy and utility of self-report measures of PA (32). A representative sample of adults completed a detailed 24-hour survey that captured both the purpose and location of physical activities reported on a randomly selected day.…”

The importance of gene–environment interactions in human obesity

“…Physical activity is usually assessed by questionnaire, and even comprehensive instruments that address occupational and leisure activity rarely correlate with objective measures of energy expenditure above 0.3 [321]. The physical activity assessment used in the EPIC-Norfolk study displayed an overall correlation of 0.44 with objective measures, although this fell to 0.28 after adjustment for age and sex [322].…”