A streamlined, enhanced self-report physical activity measure for young adults

Many health promotion practitioners and researchers use the self-report International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to estimate physical activity (PA) level. Reporting days/week and minutes/day engaging in PA can be challenging for participants. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop a streamlined, enhanced scoring method of the IPAQ that could reduce participant burden and improve research reporting. IPAQ data from 1471 U.S. university students (79% White, 58% female) at 8 universities were scored using IPAQ traditional short-form scoring algorithm (IPAQ-TSA) to generate metabolic equivalents (METS/minute/week) and an IPAQ Streamlined Scoring Algorithm (IPAQ-SSA) without minutes/day using weighted exercise intensity and days/week. IPAQ-TSA and IPAQ-SSA measures categorize participants into high, moderate, or low PA level based on their PA patterns. Spearman rank correlations between IPAQ-SSA and IPAQ METS (r = 0.69, p < 0.001) were moderate. Correlations between IPAQ-TSA and IPAQ-SSA categories were strong (r = 0.71, p < 0.001), but χ² tests revealed significantly lower proportion of participants in IPAQ-TSA low PA level than IPAQ-SSA (2.7 vs. 43.5%) suggesting IPAQ-TSA may overestimate PA. In conclusion, the IPAQ-SSA is shorter, eliminates recall bias of reporting minutes/day of PA, and may be sufficiently descriptive of PA, which would be helpful for health promotion practitioners and researchers. However, validation with objective PA measures is warranted.