The Reliability of a Survey Question on Television Viewing and Associations With Health Risk Factors in US Adults

Abstract

Research into the accuracy of self‐reported measures used to quantify physical inactivity has been limited. The purposes of the current report were to examine the reliability of a survey question assessing time spent watching television and to describe associations between television watching and physical activity and health risk factors. Data from this cross‐sectional investigation were obtained from a study designed to evaluate a physical activity module for potential use in the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Participants were 93 men and women (aged 45.9 (15.4) years) who answered the question pertaining to television watching during an initial visit and three follow‐up visits to the study center. Intra‐class correlation coefficients (ICCs) between administrations of the survey question were used to assess test‐retest reliability. Spearman rank order correlation coefficients were used to examine the associations of television viewing with physical activity and health risk factors. The test‐retest reliability of the television‐watching question suggested moderate agreement (ICCs of 0.42 and 0.55 over a 3‐week and 1‐week period, respectively). After adjustment for age and sex, reported television‐watching hours were positively associated with BMI (P = 0.0002), percentage fat (P = 0.0001), and light‐intensity physical activity (P = 0.006) and negatively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness (P = 0.004) and moderate‐intensity and hard‐intensity physical activity (P = 0.03 and P = 0.003, respectively). Increased time spent in sedentary behaviors has been identified as a major modifiable risk factor in the development of chronic diseases and conditions. The single‐item survey question evaluated in this study was shown to be a reliable measure of television watching and was associated with physical activity and health risk factor outcomes.

Validade e reprodutibilidade de inquérito telefônico de atividade física no Brasil

“…Similar results were found in other studies 5,10,19 . The indicators "habit of watching television" and "inactivity" had close approximations to that of other reliability studies 5,10,20 . Our findings expand the understanding about the theme identified in these studies, since it is based on an unpublished methodology and addresses not only the practice indicator of PA, but also its dimensions (such as duration of practice).…”

Leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behavior clusters and their associations with overweight in middle-aged French adults

“…13,53 Several studies have reported that these two behaviors are independent for young people 54,55 and also for adults. 12,15,35,56,57 In addition, gender differences have been reported previously in the associations between LTPA and TV watching. In a study by Sugiyama et al, 53 it was found that women who reported more time watching TV spent less time in LTPA, whereas such a relationship was not found in men.…”

Computer usage and national energy consumption: Results from a field-metering study

“…Survey methods, however, are susceptible to certain potential biases, such as recollection bias for low-intensity activities, a social desirability bias (wanting to appear more energy conscious), and calculation mistakes respondents may make when estimating their total or average computer usage. These biases are similar to those for reporting television viewing, for example (Pettee et al 2008). As Roth & McKenney (2007) acknowledge, "consumers may have a reasonable idea of how much they have actively used various [consumer electronic] devices recently, they likely are not as aware of the time that the products spend in idle instead of off mode".…”

“…Using an electricity meter to monitor the electricity consumption of computers is the most accurate method of determining computer usage, but it can be very expensive, time intensive, and logistically challenging. Surveys are much easier and cheaper to deploy, especially for large samples, but potentially suffer from social desirability and/or recollection biases (e.g., Pettee et al 2008).…”