Reproducibility Of The VA Physical Activity Questionnaire (VAPAQ) In An Elderly Population

Abstract

Habitual physical inactivity has been associated with the development of various chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Quantification of habitual physical activity is important both for health promotion efforts and for epidemiologic studies. However, quantifying lifetime physical activity is challenging due to the reliance on recall, especially in an older population. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the one-year reproducibility of the VA Physical Activity Questionnaire (VAPAQ) in a cohort of patients with documented abdominal aortic aneurysm disease. METHODS: Subjects included 55 men (mean age 72+7 years) enrolled in AAA STOP, a randomized, prospective longitudinal trial designed to test the ability of supervised exercise training to modify abdominal aortic aneurysm biology and early disease progression. The VAPAQ is a detailed, 5-page instrument that is acquired by a15-minute interview, and was collected by an experienced interviewer at baseline and one-year later. Adulthood recreational energy expenditure was acquired from age 25 to the present (lifetime) and also as recent (activity during the last year) and expressed as kcal/week. RESULTS: The overall correlation coefficient between the two evaluations was 0.93 (p<0.001), with an overall difference of 26 kcal/week, and a typical error (SD of the differences) of 171 kcals/week (Table). CONCLUSION: The VAPAQ is a reliable and reproducible tool to quantify habitual physical activity in older men with documented cardiovascular disease.Table