Reliability and validity of a brief physical activity assessment for use by family doctors
- 1School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, Australia
- 2University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Correspondence to: Dr Marshall School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia; alisonmhms.uq.edu.au
- Accepted 20 July 2004
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of a brief physical activity assessment tool suitable for doctors to use to identify inactive patients in the primary care setting.
Methods: Volunteer family doctors (n = 8) screened consenting patients (n = 75) for physical activity participation using a brief physical activity assessment tool. Inter-rater reliability was assessed within one week (n = 71). Validity was assessed against an objective physical activity monitor (computer science and applications accelerometer; n = 42).
Results: The brief physical activity assessment tool produced repeatable estimates of “sufficient total physical activity”, correctly classifying over 76% of cases (κ 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33 to 0.72). The validity coefficient was reasonable (κ 0.40, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.69), with good percentage agreement (71%).
Conclusions: The brief physical activity assessment tool is a reliable instrument, with validity similar to that of more detailed self report measures of physical activity. It is a tool that can be used efficiently in routine primary healthcare services to identify insufficiently active patients who may need physical activity advice.
Footnotes
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Competing interests: none declared
