PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT: BY RECALL RECORDS.

Abstract

DURING the past century, our way of life has changed enormously. Mechanization has permeated all aspects of modem living, minimizing effort and exertion. The physical demand of our work and even our leisure time activity has undergone tremendous reduction. With these changes in our way of life, frequent and regular exercise has become a factor that must be considered in the maintainence and promotion of positive health. In order to test the relationship between physical activity and health, it is necessary to determine whether a reasonably precise classification of a free-living population into several subgroups based on physical activity is possible. No studies were found in the literature dealing with the validation of a list of questions to appraise the physical activity in a population. To date, most investigators, in need of a measure of physical activity, have developed and employed their own systems of classification.1'2 Most large-scale studies reported have utilized occupational classification only.3-8 At least one epidemiological study has included the assessment of physical activity in both work and leisure.7 Although considerable work has been done in assessing the energy expenditure of specific tasks, only recently have any thorough studies been reported on total daily expenditures. These studies were conducted primarily by investigators in Great Britain8-'0 and Germany.'1 Two methods were employed in determining the time spent in each activity during a 24-hour period; one a timemotion analysis, the other a personal activity diary converted to energy cost by using appropriate tables. Direct measurements of energy expenditure is not feasible in large epidemiologic studies because of technical difficulties and the restrictive effect imposed on behavior of the subjects. The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) To develop a physical activity recall record, capable of objective scoring and based on a list of questions of physical activity involved in occupation and leisure. The questions should be such that a respondent possessing an ordinary vocabulary can readily understand them. (2) To validate the data obtained on such a self-administered form against information obtained by interview.