© 1994 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Reproducibility and Validity of a Self-Administered Physical Activity Questionnaire


* Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, 180 Longwood Avenue, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA 02115, USA
** Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health Boston, MA, USA
Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, MA, USA
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health Boston. MA, USA
§ Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh PA, USA
|| Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health Boston, MA, USA
BACKGROUND: The reproducibility and validity of self-administered questionnaires on physical activity and inactivity were examined in a random (representative) sample of the Nurses' Health Study II cohort and a random sample of African-American women in that cohort.
METHODS: Repeat questionnaires were administered 2 years apart. Past-week activity recalls and 7-day activity diaries were the referent methods; these instruments were sent to participants four times over a 1-year period.
RESULTS: The 2-year test-retest correlation for activity was 0.59 for the representative sample (n = 147) and 0.39 for the African-American sample (n = 84). Correlations between activity reported on recalls and that reported on questionnaire were 0.79 and 0.83 for the representative and African-American samples, respectively. Correlations between activity reported in diaries and that reported on questionnaire were 0.62 and 0.59, respectively. Test-retest coefficients for inactivity were 0.52 and 0.55, respectively. Correlations between inactivity reported in diaries and that reported on questionnaire were 0.41 and 0.44, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The simple, short questionnaires on activity and inactivity used in the Nurses' Health Study II are reasonably valid measures for epidemiological research.
Received 1 March 1994
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