Validity and Reliability of IPAQ-SF and GPAQ for Assessing Sedentary Behaviour in Adults in the European Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Current lifestyles are marked by sedentary behaviour; thus, it is of great importance for policymaking to have valid and reliable tools to measure sedentary behaviour in order to combat it. Therefore, the aim of this review and meta-analysis is to critically review, assess, and compile the reliability, criterion validity, and construct validity of the single-item sedentary behaviour questions within national language versions of most commonly used international physical activity questionnaires for adults in the European Union: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. A total of 1749 records were screened, 287 full-text papers were read, and 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results and quality of studies were evaluated by the Quality Assessment of Physical Activity Questionnaires checklist. Meta-analysis indicated moderate to high reliability (rw = 0.59) and concurrent validity (rw = 0.55) of national language versions of single-item sedentary behaviour questions. Criterion validity was rather low (rw = 0.23) but in concordance with previous studies. The risk of bias analysis highlighted the poor reporting of methods and results, with a total bias score of 0.42. Thus, we recommend using multi-item SB questionnaires and smart trackers for providing information on SB rather than single-item sedentary behaviour questions in physical activity questionnaires.

Reliability and Validity of Slovenian Versions of IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ for Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentarism of Adults

“…As expected, one of the most valid constructs in all selected PAQs was sedentary behavior. However, the associations in our study were low (0.38–0.45), while other studies found moderate to high correlations [ 30 ]. Nevertheless, the correlation coefficients for sedentary behavior in our study were still higher than in the two previous research that used the same device.…”

“…The test-retest reliability results of all three PAQs were adequate (low to high correlations); the alpha coefficient also showed good internal consistency of IPAQ-SF and GPAQ and moderate internal consistency of EHIS-PAQ. Concurrent validity was high and significant for the sedentary behavior items between all three PAQs; comparable results were obtained in a recent meta-analysis for IPAQ-SF and GPAQ [ 30 ]. Compared to the UKK RM42 accelerometer physical activity data, PAQs showed lower performance.…”

“…Interestingly, only one reliability and validity study of EHIS-PAQ has been published to date [ 20 ], although all member states regularly use national versions of this questionnaire as part of the EHIS [ 29 ]. Detailed overview of reliability and validity results from European countries can be found elsewhere [ 14 , 30 ].…”

“…As European and national health policies and programs are based on the physical activity and sedentary behavior data collected using the described PAQs, the use of validated measures is necessary. Many of the EU countries have not tested the reliability and validity of their national versions of the widely used international PAQs [ 14 , 30 ] and Slovenia is among them. Therefore, within the European Physical Activity and Sports Monitoring System (EUPASMOS) project, we prepared a study on the reliability and validity of Slovenian versions of EHIS-PAQ, IPAQ-SF, and GPAQ, aiming to fill this gap in Slovenia.…”

Gender Difference in the Relationship of Physical Activity and Subjective Happiness Among Chinese University Students

“…PA was assessed by the Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), which has adequate validity and reliability (Mengyu, Fan et al, 2014 ; Meh et al, 2021 ). The participants reported days and times of PA during the last 7 days.…”