title: Reproducibility and relative validity of the short questionnaire to assess health-enhancing physical activity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to determine reproducibility and relative validity of the Short QUestionnaire to ASsess Health-enhancing physical activity (SQUASH).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (36 men and 14 women, aged 27-58) were asked to complete the SQUASH twice with an inbetween period of approximately 5 weeks. In addition, participants wore the Computer Science and Applications (CSA) Activity Monitor for a 2-week period following the first questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Spearman correlation for overall reproducibility of the SQUASH was 0.58 (95%-CI 0.36-0.74). Correlations for the reproducibility of the separate questions varied between 0.44 and 0.96. Spearman's correlation coefficient between CSA readings and the total activity score was 0.45 (95%-CI 0.17-0.66).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, the SQUASH is a fairly reliable and reasonably valid questionnaire and may be used to order subjects according to their level of physical activity in an adult population. Because the SQUASH is a short and simple questionnaire, it may proof to be a very useful tool for the evaluation of health enhancing physical activity in large populations.
authors.affiliation: Department for Chronic Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Wanda.Vos@rivm.nl
authors.forename: G C Wanda
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Wendel-Vos
authors.forename: A Jantine
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Schuit
authors.forename: Wim H M
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Saris
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kromhout
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires