Examining the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, long form (IPAQ-LC)

• Published in: Public health nutrition Vol. 14; no. 3; pp. 443 - 450
• Main Authors: Macfarlane, Duncan, Chan, Anson, Cerin, Ester
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.03.2011; CABI Pub. on behalf of the Nutrition Society
• Subjects: Accelerometers; accelerometry; Accelerometry - methods; Adolescent; Adult; adults; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Asian People; China; correlation; Correlation coefficient; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise; Female; females; Follow-Up Studies; Hong Kong; HOT TOPIC – Assessment and methodology; Humans; Male; males; methods; Motor Activity; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Software; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; Validity; walking; Young Adult; Hong Kong; Hong Kong China; United States > US; China; United States; Validity; Chinese; Physical activity; Reliability; IPAQ
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980010002806

Objective To investigate the reliability and the validity of the long format, Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-LC). Design Cross-sectional study, examining the reliability and validity of the IPAQ-LC compared with a physical activity log (PA-log) and objective accelerometry. Setting Self-reported physical activity (PA) in Hong Kong adults. Subjects A total of eighty-three Chinese adults (forty-seven males, thirty-six females) were asked to wear an ActiTrainer accelerometer (MTI-ActiGraph, Fort Walton Beach, FL, USA) for >10 h over 7 d, to complete a PA-log at the end of each day and to complete the IPAQ-LC on day 8. On a sub-sample of twenty-eight adults the IPAQ-LC was also administered on day 11 to assess its reliability. Results The IPAQ-LC had good test–retest reliability for grouped activities, with intra-class correlation coefficients ranging from 0·74 to 0·97 for vigorous, moderate, walking and total PA, with between-test effect sizes that were small (<0·49). The Spearman correlation coefficients were statistically significant for vigorous PA (r = 0·28), moderate + walking PA (r = 0·27), as well as overall PA (r = 0·35), when compared with the accelerometry-based criterion measures, but none of the IPAQ activity categories correlated significantly with the PA-log. In absolute units, only the IPAQ light and overall PA did not differ significantly from the accelerometry measures, yet overall PA was able to faithfully discriminate between quartiles of PA (P = 0·019) when compared to accelerometry.Conclusions The IPAQ-LC demonstrated adequate reliability and showed sufficient evidence of validity in assessing overall levels of habitual PA to be used on Hong Kong adults.