Evaluation of a two-part survey item to assess moderate physical activity: the Cross-Cultural Activity Participation Study.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated a two-part survey item that assessed adherence to the national moderate physical activity (MPA) recommendation (>/=30 min/day on >/=5 days/week).


METHODS
Participants were African American (n = 137), Native American (n = 129), and Caucasian (n = 50) women >/= 40 years from South Carolina and New Mexico, who were participating in a study validating physical activity surveys. The survey item was compared with data obtained from MPA recorded in PA records (min/day), Caltrac accelerometers (Muscle Dynamics, Torrance, CA) (kcal/day), and pedometers (steps/day).


RESULTS
Approximately 64% of the participants reported meeting the MPA recommendation on the survey item. Adjusted analyses showed that those who reported meeting the recommendation were more active than those who reported not meeting the recommendation (109.2 vs. 83.9 min/day, 2171.2 vs. 2088.4 kcal/day, and 5795.7 vs. 4797.2 steps/day, respectively; all p < 0.0001). The types of activities recorded in the PA record did not differ by self-reported adherence to the MPA recommendation except for walking (25.2 vs. 14.0 min/day for those who reported meeting vs. not meeting the recommendation, respectively; p < 0.05). A higher proportion of those who reported meeting the recommendation also reported participating in conditioning activities compared with those who reported not meeting the recommendation (31% vs. 19%, respectively; p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The two-part survey item can reliably differentiate between higher and lower levels of activity. Those who perceive themselves as meeting the MPA recommendation are, on average, likely to have higher activity levels than those who perceive that they do not meet the recommendation.
Whitt
Melicia C
MC
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6021, USA. mwhitt@cceb.med.upenn.edu
Levin
Sarah
S
Ainsworth
Barbara E
BE
Dubose
Katrina D
KD
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009516:New Mexico; D009657:North Carolina; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016387:Women's Health