THE INTERNATIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUESTIONNAIRE AND YALE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SURVEY IN SOUTH AFRICAN OLDER ADULTS

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Although the relationship between physical activity (PA) and chronic disease has been well established, the validation of questionnaire-based PA quantification varies widely. The reliability and validity of two questionnaires, the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YPAS), and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), were measured and compared in a group of elderly South Africans. Methods: The YPAS, developed for older adults measures weekly household, yard-work, care giving, exercise and recreational activities. A working group from the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control developed a long and short form of the IPAQ to measure PA. The short IPAQ measures total time and energy expended in vigorous and moderate activity as well as time spent sitting. The YPAS and version 8 of the short form IPAQ were administered on two occasions to measure test-retest reliability. The subjects wore a uni-axial accelerometer, that measures motion counts, for 7 days prior to the first interview to measure criterion validity. Spearman's rank order correlation coefficients were used to determine criterion validity (YPAS and IPAQ vs CSA) and reliability (YPAS and IPAQ test 1 vs test 2). Results: Test-retest reliability was strong and significant in both the short IPAQ (r ranging from 0.58 for week end sitting; p-0.000, to 0.77 for week day sitting; p = 0.0000) and the YPAS (r ranging from 0.81 for recreational PA, p = 0.000, to 0.99 for care-giving PA; p = 0.0000). Criterion validity was weaker, with the strongest relationship between YPAS exercise PA versus CSA time in high intensity activity (r = 0.28; p = 0.04). IPAQ time spent sitting correlated significantly with total CSA counts (r = 0.48; p = 0.003). Total IPAQ reported PA correlated with total CSA counts with r = 0.4 and p = 0.003. Conclusion: The short IPAQ and YPAS demonstrated reproducible results. However the criterion validity warrants further investigation in older adults.