Suitability of Physical Activity Questionnaires for Older Adults in Fall-Prevention Trials: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify physical activity questionnaires for older adults that might be suitable outcome measures in clinical trials of fall-injuryprevention intervention and to undertake a systematic quality assessment of their measurement properties. PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were systematically searched to identify measurements and articles reporting the methodological quality of relevant measures. Quality extraction relating to content, population, reliability, validity, responsiveness, acceptability, practicality, and feasibility was undertaken. Twelve outcome measures met the inclusion criteria. There is limited evidence about the measuresʼ properties. None of the measures is entirely satisfactory for use in a large-scale trial at present. There is a need to develop suitable measures. The Stanford 7-day Physical Activity Recall Questionnaire and the Community Health Activities Model Program for Seniors questionnaire might be appropriate for further development. The results have implications for the designs of largescale trials investigating many different geriatric syndromes.

Assessing physical activity in inpatient rehabilitation—sensor-based validation of the PAIR

“…It also has to be mentioned that the PAIR could, like other interviewbased or proxy-based activity questionnaires, overestimate "real" PA levels [4]. Nevertheless, the correlations were comparable to those that have been reported for much more complex community-based assessments [20], a satisfying result when taking into consideration the shortness of the assignment.…”

“…Still, recent validation studies often used sensor-based technology as objective standard activity measurements [7,20]. This might not always be appropriate, because PA can of course be more than just moving the hands (actigraph-sensors) or ambulation (accelerometers, step-counts).…”

“…Therefore, sensors might not be readily available in any rehabilitation unit. Although many different questionnaires for communitydwelling older adults have been proposed and validated [20], an interview-based and validated assessment to measure PA in inpatients did not exist. The only tool mentioned in recent literature, a questionnaire on self-initiated and treatment-associated mobility that was asked every day during the hospital stay, has been associated with different health outcomes in two earlier studies [6,41].…”

Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire as an Additional Tool in Clinical Assessment of Patients With Coronary Artery Disease Treated With Angioplasty

“…The questionnaires assess the physical activity over a wide age range for various periods of time -the previous 24 hr, the previous week, month or even a year [7,9].…”

“…In epidemiological studies, the application of such methods is limited due to high costs, potential contraindications, advanced age of subjects, their health status and low reliability. It seems that a questionnaire constitutes a simple and inexpensive tool in assessment of physical activity [6][7][8][9]. In some questionnaires only occupational activity is of interest, in others, only leisure time exercise, but many seek information about activity both on and off the job.…”