Agreement of physical activity questionnaire with cardiorespiratory fitness

Resumen

Many health benefi ts are associated with physical activity level (PAL), but no standardized approaches to measurement exist, and comparisons and surveillance are problematic. The aim of this study was to verify the level of agreement between the results of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ: short) and the Habitual Physical Activity Questionnaire (HPAQ) with true cardiorespiratory fi tness (VO2max), in order to classify young men and women as having PAL that is either adequate or inadequate for good health. A convenience sample was studied, composed of 105 young adults (43 male physical education students; 28 female physical education students; 34 males not studying physical education). Both questionnaires were self-administered under the identical conditions. Values for VO2max were obtained using Cooper’s 12 min running test. Subjects were classifi ed as having PAL and VO2max that were adequate or inadequate for good health. The cut off points used to defi ne adequate VO2max ?44 ml/kg/min-1 for men and ?33 ml/kg/min-1 for women. Agreement was assessed using a 2x2 contingency table. Percentage agreement ranged from 51.10% to 64.70% for the HPAQ and was 47.06% for the IPAQ. Agreement was higher for the HPAQ than for the IPAQ. Women overestimated their PAL by HPAQ and men underestimated their PAL by both questionnaires. The fi ndings of this study suggest that the HPAQ tends to be more accurate than the IPAQ.