AGREEMENT BETWEEN IPAQ AND SBQ ESTIMATES OF SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Abstract

PURPOSE: Numerous questionnaires are available for measuring sedentary behaviors (SED) in different populations. The Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) are two commonly used instruments; however, it is unclear whether the nine-item SBQ and the two-item IPAQ provide similar estimates in university students. Hence, the purpose of this study was to compare the absolute and relative agreement between SBQ and IPAQ estimates in university students. METHODS: College students (n = 555, 20.4 ± 1.6 yrs, 80% female) completed an online health behavior survey from January to March 2020 that included both the SBQ and IPAQ. Responses for all nine items from the SBQ were multiplied by the number of days per week (5 for weekdays, 2 for weekends), summed, and then divided by 7 to obtain the average number of minutes spent in SED each day. Responses from the IPAQ were multiplied by the number of days per week (5 for weekdays, 2 for weekends), summed, and then divided by 7 to obtain the average number of minutes spent in SED each day. A paired t-test was used to compare the absolute agreement between SED estimates. Spearman correlations were used to examine the relative agreement between total SED estimates and between the individual items of the SBQ and the total SED estimate from the IPAQ. RESULTS: The paired t-test revealed a significant difference in total SED estimates between the SBQ (483.1 ± 196.9 min/day) and IPAQ (390.3 ± 1308.1 min/day) (p < 0.001). The correlation between SBQ and IPAQ estimates of total SED time was weak (rs = 0.24, p < 0.001). Correlations between the SBQ component items and total SED from the IPAQ were also weak, but highest for paper/computer work rs = 0.17 (p < .01), gaming rs = 0.11 (p = .01), and reading rs =0.10 (p = .02) CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that there is poor absolute and relative agreement between SBQ and IPAQ estimates of SED in college students. However, it is unclear which of these two instruments provides the more accurate estimate of SED in this population. Future studies should compare SED estimates from a diverse array of questionnaires to estimates from objective criterion measures across a range of university settings.