Validity of questionnaire-based assessment of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in a population-based cohort of older men; comparisons with objectively measured physical activity data

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Feb 2016

Background Older adults are the most inactive age group and self-reporting of activities may be complicated by age-related reductions in structured activities and misclassification or recall biases. We investigate the validity of simple questionnaires about sedentary behaviour (SB), (including the widely used proxy television (TV) viewing), and physical activity (PA) in comparison with objective measures. Methods Community dwelling men aged 71–93 years, from a UK population-based cohort wore a GT3X accelerometer over the right hip for 7 days and self-completed a questionnaire including information about SB (TV, reading, computer use and car use) and PA (leisure and sporting domains). Results 1566/3137 surviving men (mean age 79 years) attended. 1377 ambulatory men provided questionnaire and accelerometer data. Questionnaires under-estimated mean daily sedentary time; 317 minutes total SB (TV, computer use, reading or driving), 176 minutes (TV) vs 619 minutes (objectively measured). Correlations between objective measures and self-reports were 0.18 (total SB) and 0.17 (TV), both P < 0.001. Objective SB levels were similar across the lowest three quartiles of self-reported SB but raised in the highest quartile. Correlations between steps/day or moderate to vigorous PA with self-reported total PA were both 0.49, P < 0.001 and measured PA levels were progressively higher at higher levels of self-reported PA. Conclusions Among older men, simple SB questions performed poorly for identifying total SB time, although simple PA questions were associated with a graded increase with objectively measured PA. Future studies of health effects of SB in older men would benefit from objective measures of SB.

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Validity of questionnaire-based assessment of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in a population-based cohort of older men; comparisons with objectively measured physical activity data

Jefferis et al. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Validity of questionnaire-based assessment of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in a population-based cohort of older men; comparisons with objectively measured physical activity data Barbara J. Jefferis 0 1 Claudio Sartini 0 1 Sarah Ash 1 Lucy T. Lennon 1 S. Goya Wannamethee 1 Peter H. Whincup 2 0 UCL Physical Activity Research Group, University College London , London , UK 1 UCL Department of Primary Care & Population Health, UCL Medical School , Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF , UK 2 Population Health Research Institute, St George's University of London , Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE , UK Background: Older adults are the most inactive age group and self-reporting of activities may be complicated by age-related reductions in structured activities and misclassification or recall biases. We investigate the validity of simple questionnaires about sedentary behaviour (SB), (including the widely used proxy television (TV) viewing), and physical activity (PA) in comparison with objective measures. Methods: Community dwelling men aged 71-93 years, from a UK population-based cohort wore a GT3X accelerometer over the right hip for 7 days and self-completed a questionnaire including information about SB (TV, reading, computer use and car use) and PA (leisure and sporting domains). Results: 1566/3137 surviving men (mean age 79 years) attended. 1377 ambulatory men provided questionnaire and accelerometer data. Questionnaires under-estimated mean daily sedentary time; 317 minutes total SB (TV, computer use, reading or driving), 176 minutes (TV) vs 619 minutes (objectively measured). Correlations between objective measures and self-reports were 0.18 (total SB) and 0.17 (TV), both P < 0.001. Objective SB levels were similar across the lowest three quartiles of self-reported SB but raised in the highest quartile. Correlations between steps/day or moderate to vigorous PA with self-reported total PA were both 0.49, P < 0.001 and measured PA levels were progressively higher at higher levels of self-reported PA. Conclusions: Among older men, simple SB questions performed poorly for identifying total SB time, although simple PA questions were associated with a graded increase with objectively measured PA. Future studies of health effects of SB in older men would benefit from objective measures of SB. Older adults; Sedentary behaviour; Physical activity; Questionnaire; Accelerometer; Cohort study Background Both physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) are core determinants of health and are associated with mortality and CVD risk in prospective cohort studies [ 1, 2 ]. UK guidelines include recommendations about both PA and SB [3]. At older ages levels of PA are lowest and SB are highest [ 4 ] and burdens of PA preventable disease and disability rise steeply with age [ 5 ]. Accurate assessment of PA and SB is therefore essential in this age group, yet there is little data about validity of both PA and SB in the oldest old, aged up to 90 years. Until recently all studies relating PA and SB to morbidity and mortality used self-reports (with television (TV) viewing the most commonly used proxy for SB) [ 6 ]. TV viewing is consistently associated with elevated risks of mortality, CVD and diabetes events [ 7 ]. Yet some studies reporting detrimental association between self-reported TV time and CVD risk markers, fail to find associations with accelerometer measured SB [ 8 ]. This may be because TV viewing accounts for only a small part of SB and does not reflect other domains (leisure, occupational and transport) [ 9, 10 ]. Furthermore, there are concerns about questionnaire-based assessment of both PA and SB in older people, in whom misclassification bias and recall bias (which could be exacerbated by memory loss) [11] are particularly likely and who report difficulty in answering questions about typical SB [ 12 ]. Moreover, this age-group undertakes fewer sporting and structured exercise and more light activities (including functional tasks such as walking for transport, household tasks, caring and gardening [ 13 ]), which may be harder to recall, or not be included in questionnaires designed for younger age groups. Sensor technology permits objective measurements of PA and SB in population-based studies, providing estimates of time spent at different intensities of activity. In order to better understand the health effects of SB and to design effective interventions to change patterns of SB in older adults, it is important to assess the validity of commonly used instruments to measure SB in large scale studies of community-dwelling older adults. Likewise, it is important to understand the validity of existing PA questionnaires which have been used to generate estimates of PA, from which the dose–response curves between PA and clinical outcomes are estimated This paper therefore aims first to inv (...truncated)


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Barbara Jefferis, Claudio Sartini, Sarah Ash, Lucy Lennon, S. Wannamethee, Peter Whincup. Validity of questionnaire-based assessment of sedentary behaviour and physical activity in a population-based cohort of older men; comparisons with objectively measured physical activity data, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2016, pp. 14, 13, DOI: 10.1186/s12966-016-0338-1