Lecture 3: Measurement of PA

Question 1

How do you measure PA?

Answer 1

1. Type of activity
2. Frequency (3 to 4 times a week)
3. Duration (temporal length)
4. Intensity (Degree of overload, Mild, Moderate, Vigorous)

Question 2

What are the different types of questionnaires? (self-report measures)

Answer 2

1. Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire Godin et al., 1986)
2. 7-Day physical activity recall questionnaire (Sallis et al., 1993)
3. International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
4. Singapore Sport Council Questionnaire
5. Diary Methods

Question 3

LEISURE-TIME EXERCISE QUESTIONNAIRE (Godin et al., 1986)

Answer 3

• Assess a typical week’s strenuous, moderate and mild PA
• Calculation for METS
• Validity and reliability data available

Advantages:

• Spend and ease of administration
• Typical Week

Disadvantages:
- Reliability is questionable for mild and moderate activity

Question 4

7 DAYS PHYSICAL RECALL QUESTIONNAIRE (Sallis et al., 1993)

Answer 4

• Assess a previous week’s moderate, hard and very hard PA
• Calculation for METS
• Validity and reliability are strong

Advantages:

• Speed and ease of administration
• Calculation of total energy expenditure
• Occupational and leisure activities

Disadvantages:
- Previous week may not provide typical participation

Question 5

DIARY METHODS

Answer 5

• Typically completed at the end of each day
• Can be modified to specific behaviours

Advantage:

• No need for observation
• Detailed information can be obtained

Disadvantage:

• Expensive to reduce the data to analyzable form
• Heavy participant burden
• Questionable validity due to tedium

Question 6

Overview of self-report measures:

Answer 6

• many questionnaires are available to assess PA
• However, there are is no golden standard for measurement
• All self-report measures are associated with error
• They are relatively effective indicants of which people are more or less active

Question 7

What are the ADVANTAGES of direct observation?

Answer 7

• accurate
• involves littles inference with the participant’s routine
• diverse dimensions related to PA can be quantified
• can be used as a criterion method for validating other measures of PA

Question 8

What are the DISADVANTAGES of direct observation?

Answer 8

• time-consuming
• observation is expensive
• observations may not reflect habitual physical activity

Question 9

Feasibility - Validity Graph

Answer 9

High F, Low V to High V, Low F:

1. Diaries
2. Self Reports: (LTEQ, 7DPR, IPAQ, SSSQ)
3. Pedometers: step counter
4. HR Monitors
5. Smart Watches
6. Accelerometer: measure acceleration
7. Direct Observation
8. Indirect Calorimetry: measures inspired and expired gas flows, volumes and concentrations of O2 and CO2
9. DLW - Doubly Labeled Water: takes down your EE instead of what you do, it is a gold standard for total energy expenditure