Concurrent validity between self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and Fibion accelerometer data among young adults in the UAE

Arumugam, Ashokan; Alsaafin, Nour; Shalash, Reime Jamal; Qadah, Raneen Mohammed; Al-Sharman, Alham; Moustafa, Ibrahim M.; Shousha, Tamer M.; Kumaran, Senthil D.; Migliorini, Filippo; Maffulli, Nicola

Abstract

Self-reported physical activity questionnaires (e.g., International Physical Activity Questionnaire, IPAQ) are a cost-effective, time-saving, and accessible method to assess sedentary behaviour and physical activity. There are conflicting findings regarding the validity of self-reported questionnaires in comparison to accelerometer-measured data in a free-living environment. This study aimed to investigate the concurrent validity between self-reported Arabic–English IPAQ short form (IPAQ-SF) and Fibion (Fibion Inc., Jyväskylä, Finland) accelerometer-measured sedentary and physical activity time among young adults. One hundred and one young healthy adults (mean age 20.8 ± 2.4 years) filled in the IPAQ short form (IPAQ-SF) and wore the Fibion device on the anterior thigh for ≥ 600 min per day for 4–7 days. Concurrent validity between the IPAQ-SF and Fibion accelerometer for sitting, walking, moderate activity, and vigorous activity time was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) and Bland–Altman plots. Significant weak associations between IPAQ-SF and Fibion measurements were found for total activity time (ρ = 0.4; P < 0.001) and for the duration of walking (ρ = 0.3; P = 0.01), moderate (ρ = 0.2; P = 0.02), and vigorous-intensity activities (ρ = 0.4; P < 0.001). However, ρ was not significant (ρ = − 0.2; P = 0.09) for sitting time. In addition, all the plots of the measured variables showed a proportional bias. A low association and agreement were found between self-reported IPAQ-SF scores and Fibion accelerometer measurements among young adults in the UAE. Adult sedentary and physical activity measurements should be obtained objectively with accelerometers rather than being limited to self-reported measures.

Citation

Arumugam, A., Alsaafin, N., Shalash, R. J., Qadah, R. M., Al-Sharman, A., Moustafa, I. M., Shousha, T. M., Kumaran, S. D., Migliorini, F., & Maffulli, N. (in press). Concurrent validity between self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and Fibion accelerometer data among young adults in the UAE. European Journal of Medical Research, 29(1), Article 426. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40001-024-01975-5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 14, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Aug 19, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 27, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 27, 2024
• Journal: European Journal of Medical Research
• Electronic ISSN: 2047-783X
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 426
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40001-024-01975-5
• Keywords: Physical activity, International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF), Accelerometer, Validation
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/888354
• Publisher URL: https://eurjmedres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40001-024-01975-5