TY - JOUR
T1 - Validity of electronically administered Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire (RPAQ) in ten European countries
AU - Golubic, Rajna
AU - May, Anne M
AU - Benjaminsen Borch, Kristin
AU - Overvad, Kim
AU - Charles, Marie-Aline
AU - Diaz, Maria Jose Tormo
AU - Amiano, Pilar
AU - Palli, Domenico
AU - Valanou, Elisavet
AU - Vigl, Matthaeus
AU - Franks, Paul W
AU - Wareham, Nicholas
AU - Ekelund, Ulf
AU - Brage, Soren
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of the Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire (RPAQ) which assesses physical activity (PA) in 4 domains (leisure, work, commuting, home) during past month.METHODS: 580 men and 1343 women from 10 European countries attended 2 visits at which PA energy expenditure (PAEE), time at moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time were measured using individually-calibrated combined heart-rate and movement sensing. At the second visit, RPAQ was administered electronically. Validity was assessed using agreement analysis.RESULTS: RPAQ significantly underestimated PAEE in women [median(IQR) 34.1 (22.1, 52.2) vs. 40.6 (32.4, 50.9) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -44.4, 63.4 kJ/kg/day) and in men (43.7 (29.0, 69.0) vs. 45.5 (34.1, 57.6) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -47.2, 101.3 kJ/kg/day]. Using individualised definition of 1MET, RPAQ significantly underestimated MVPA in women [median(IQR): 62.1 (29.4, 124.3) vs. 73.6 (47.8, 107.2) min/day, 95%LoA: -130.5, 305.3 min/day] and men [82.7 (38.8, 185.6) vs. 83.3 (55.1, 125.0) min/day, 95%LoA: -136.4, 400.1 min/day]. Correlations (95%CI) between subjective and objective estimates were statistically significant [PAEE: women, rho = 0.20 (0.15-0.26); men, rho = 0.37 (0.30-0.44); MVPA: women, rho = 0.18 (0.13-0.23); men, rho = 0.31 (0.24-0.39)]. When using non-individualised definition of 1MET (3.5 mlO2/kg/min), MVPA was substantially overestimated (∼ 30 min/day). Revisiting occupational intensity assumptions in questionnaire estimation algorithms with occupational group-level empirical distributions reduced median PAEE-bias in manual (25.1 kJ/kg/day vs. -9.0 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) and heavy manual workers (64.1 vs. -4.6 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) in an independent hold-out sample.CONCLUSION: Relative validity of RPAQ-derived PAEE and MVPA is comparable to previous studies but underestimation of PAEE is smaller. Electronic RPAQ may be used in large-scale epidemiological studies including surveys, providing information on all domains of PA.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To examine the validity of the Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire (RPAQ) which assesses physical activity (PA) in 4 domains (leisure, work, commuting, home) during past month.METHODS: 580 men and 1343 women from 10 European countries attended 2 visits at which PA energy expenditure (PAEE), time at moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time were measured using individually-calibrated combined heart-rate and movement sensing. At the second visit, RPAQ was administered electronically. Validity was assessed using agreement analysis.RESULTS: RPAQ significantly underestimated PAEE in women [median(IQR) 34.1 (22.1, 52.2) vs. 40.6 (32.4, 50.9) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -44.4, 63.4 kJ/kg/day) and in men (43.7 (29.0, 69.0) vs. 45.5 (34.1, 57.6) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -47.2, 101.3 kJ/kg/day]. Using individualised definition of 1MET, RPAQ significantly underestimated MVPA in women [median(IQR): 62.1 (29.4, 124.3) vs. 73.6 (47.8, 107.2) min/day, 95%LoA: -130.5, 305.3 min/day] and men [82.7 (38.8, 185.6) vs. 83.3 (55.1, 125.0) min/day, 95%LoA: -136.4, 400.1 min/day]. Correlations (95%CI) between subjective and objective estimates were statistically significant [PAEE: women, rho = 0.20 (0.15-0.26); men, rho = 0.37 (0.30-0.44); MVPA: women, rho = 0.18 (0.13-0.23); men, rho = 0.31 (0.24-0.39)]. When using non-individualised definition of 1MET (3.5 mlO2/kg/min), MVPA was substantially overestimated (∼ 30 min/day). Revisiting occupational intensity assumptions in questionnaire estimation algorithms with occupational group-level empirical distributions reduced median PAEE-bias in manual (25.1 kJ/kg/day vs. -9.0 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) and heavy manual workers (64.1 vs. -4.6 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) in an independent hold-out sample.CONCLUSION: Relative validity of RPAQ-derived PAEE and MVPA is comparable to previous studies but underestimation of PAEE is smaller. Electronic RPAQ may be used in large-scale epidemiological studies including surveys, providing information on all domains of PA.
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0092829
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0092829
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24667343
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 9
JO - P L o S One
JF - P L o S One
IS - 3
M1 - e92829
ER -