Kanyarat Cutchawaree. Validity and reliability assessment of the physical activity questionnaire in school girls aged 7-9 years . Master's Degree(Nutrition). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2004.
Validity and reliability assessment of the physical activity questionnaire in school girls aged 7-9 years
Abstract:
Physical activity plays an important role in promoting health and preventing
many chronic diseases in the later life. There are several methods to measure physical
activity, however, those methods are quite expensive. Therefore, I developed the
physical activity questionnaire as a less expensive method for measuring physical
activity and tested it for validity and reliability. The objectives of this study were to
assess its validity and reliability using Thai school girls aged 7-9 years and determine
the relationship between this questionnaire and the girls’ anthropometric variables.
The questionnaire was administered twice on the same day to 55 school girls in
Bangkok aged 7-9 years who were enrolled in the study. Body mass index, body fat,
body fat mass and body fat free mass were determined. An accelerometer, heart rate
monitoring and observation were used to check the accuracy of the questionnaire.
A paired t-test was used to determine the mean difference. Pearson correlation
coefficients were used for assessment validity and reliability, and intraclass correlation
coefficient was used to check reliability.
The questionnaire was found to be valid (r=0.48, p<0.01) and reliable
(r=0.85, p<0.01 and intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92). Test of the questionnaire
correlated with all anthropometric variables (r=0.36-0.62). Retest of the questionnaire
correlated with all anthropometric variables except bicep and tricep skinfold thickness
and percentage of body fat (r=0.38-0.49). In conclusion, the developed questionnaire
for assessment of physical activity was found to be valid and reliable. That means it is
accurate and repeatable for measuring physical activity