Aim: Measurement of habitual physical activity (PA) is a challenging task. PA questionnaires are easy to use, but their accuracy has been questioned. The Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ), a recently developed... [ view full abstract ]
Aim: Measurement of habitual physical activity (PA) is a challenging task. PA questionnaires are easy to use, but their accuracy has been questioned. The Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire (SIMPAQ), a recently developed questionnaire, uses an interview format to estimate time in bed, structured exercise participation, and incidental or non-structured PA (Rosenbaum & Ward, 2016). The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of the Italian version of the SIMPAQ and the levels of PA among university students, assuming that this is a population at high risk of sedentary behaviours (Maselli, Gobbi & Carraro, 2017).
Methods: After providing informed consent, participants provided information about anthropometry and demographic background. Accelerometer data was collected for seven consecutive days among 106 participants (57 women). Telephone interviews were conducted to complete the SIMPAQ and the IPAQ at the end of the week wearing the accelerometer.
Results: Significant positive correlations were found between the accelerometer-based daily moderate-to-vigorous PA and the SIMPAQ measures of incidental and structured PA summed up (r=.21; p<.05), and between SIMPAQ walking time and objective lifestyle intensity time (r=.41; p<.001). High amount of out-of-the-bed sedentary time (M=4850.6, SD 679.2 min/week) and very low time in vigorous and very vigorous activities (M=32.2, SD 20.6 min/week) were recorded.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that the Italian version of the SIMPAQ is an appropriate instrument to assess PA daily levels also among university students and confirm the call for actions to motivate young people to be more physically active.
References
Maselli, M., Gobbi, E., & Carraro, A. (2017). Effectiveness of individual counselling and activity monitors to promote physical activity among university students. JSportsMedPhysFitness, DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.17.07981-6
Rosenbaum S. & Ward P. on behalf of the International Working Group (2016). The Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire. Lancet Psychiatry, 3(1), e1
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