The “Saltin–Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale” and its application to health research

Abstract

The use of a four‐level questionnaire to assess leisure time physical activity (PA) and its validation is reviewed in this paper. This questionnaire was first published in 1968 and has then been used by more than 600 000 subjects, especially in different population studies in the Nordic countries. A number of modifications to the questionnaire have been published. These are mostly minor changes, such as adding practical examples of activities to illustrate the levels of PA. Some authors have also added duration requirements that were not included for all levels of PA in the original version. The concurrent validity, with respect to aerobic capacity and movement analysis using objective measurements has been shown to be good, as has the predictive validity with respect to various risk factors for health conditions and for morbidity and mortality.

Is preoperative physical activity related to post-surgery recovery?—a cohort study of colorectal cancer patients

“…In clinical practice, assessing a patient's level of physical activity using the Saltin-Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale is feasible [24]. This study supports its use in colorectal cancer patients as a preoperative prognostic tool.…”

“…If your activity varies greatly try to estimate an average.' The answering categories were as follows: The Saltin-Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale has been shown to have a high validity and reliability [24], being associated to objective measures of activity, cardiovascular risk factors [25,26], as well as morbidity [27,28] and mortality [29], and has been used in >500,000 patients in clinical studies [24]. The questionnaire referred to the last week before the patient answered.…”

The impact of changes in leisure time physical activity on changes in cardiovascular risk factors: results from The Finnmark 3 Study and SAMINOR 1, 1987–2003

“…In both surveys, leisure time physical activity was assessed by the ‘Saltin-Grimby’ questionnaire at baseline and follow-up [17] and graded 1–4 as follows: Sedentary: Reading, watching TV or other sedentary activities.Moderate: Walking, bicycling, or moving around in other ways at least 4 h a week (including walking or cycling to place of work, walks on Sundays, etc. ).…”

Feasibility and acceptability of active book clubs in cancer survivors – an explorative investigation

“…Assessment of mental health included anxiety and depression (by means of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [15] and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale [16]), and sleep quality (by means of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [17]). Assessment of physical activity behavior included measurement of baseline physical activity level (by means of the Saltin-Grimby Physical Activity Level Scale [18]), and continuous measurement of weekly walking (number of steps and number of walks per week) by means of a pedometer (iPod nano 7th generation, #Apple Inc.) recorded by the participant in a logbook. In addition, information on sociodemographics and health variables (i.e.…”