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International Journal of Health Sciences
Research has identified that regular participation in physical activity is known to have important benefits for reducing general risk of premature mortality across all groups. International guidelines have recommended that every adult accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity weekly or walk a minimum of 10,000 steps per day to improve health and well-being. In order to evaluate the current and changing physical activity levels, accurate assessment of physical activity levels is required for understanding relations between physical activity and health outcomes and determining the effectiveness of intervention programs. Different assessment tools have been developed and validated for different target audiences. The method you choose to measure physical activity must take into consideration the population, size of the study, and the purpose of the study as well as reliability and validity of the instruments. Physical activity measurement can assess different aspects which include the frequency, intensity, amount, type and setting of activity. Different types of measurement can be grouped as follows: objective methods such as activity monitors; double labelled water (DLW), indirect calorimetry, pedometers, and heart rate monitors, as well as subjective self-report methods such as physical activity diaries, logs, recalls interviews, and questionnaires. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to overview the methods currently being used to measure physical activity in adult's population.
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American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
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Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
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Introduction: Physical activity levels are often monitored to assess health behaviours and their associations with health status, including mortality and morbidity rates in the population. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-L) was developed in the late 1990s to obtain internationally comparable data on health related physical activity and several studies have shown its acceptable validity and reliability for population-based studies. The aim of this study was the comparison of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-L) against an objective method such as accelerometry. Methods: 220 volunteers (105 men and 115 women), aged 18-65 years, were recruited. All volunteers wore an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days, after that, we required them to complete the IPAQ-L together with a lifestyle questionnaire containing questions on physical exercise, smoking habits, alcohol consumption and other demographic data (age, sex, ect). Moreover, we collected measure of weight (kg) and height (cm) according to the standard procedure; body mass index (kg body weight/m 2 body height) has been calculated. Results: IPAQ-L showed a significant tendency to overestimate time spent in vigorous and moderate activities (p=0.0000) and to underestimate time spent sitting (p=0.0000). Additionally, the differences in minutes per day of moderate and vigorous physical activities between the IPAQ-L and the accelerometer reported in questionnaire increased. Nevertheless, we found a low positive correlation (r =0.30; p<0.05) between total physical activity measured by accelerometer and that obtained by the IPAQ-L. Conclusions: Our results showed low to moderate correlations between IPAQ-L and accelerometer pointing out differences across physical activity categories. This is an aspect that should be taken into account prior to deciding on use of an instrument for the assessment of physical activity; especially in small population groups preference should come down to objective tools such as the accelerometer.
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
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Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
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