Reliability and validity of a brief physical activity assessment for use by family doctors.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the reliability and validity of a brief physical activity assessment tool suitable for doctors to use to identify inactive patients in the primary care setting.


METHODS
Volunteer family doctors (n = 8) screened consenting patients (n = 75) for physical activity participation using a brief physical activity assessment tool. Inter-rater reliability was assessed within one week (n = 71). Validity was assessed against an objective physical activity monitor (computer science and applications accelerometer; n = 42).


RESULTS
The brief physical activity assessment tool produced repeatable estimates of "sufficient total physical activity", correctly classifying over 76% of cases (kappa 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33 to 0.72). The validity coefficient was reasonable (kappa 0.40, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.69), with good percentage agreement (71%).


CONCLUSIONS
The brief physical activity assessment tool is a reliable instrument, with validity similar to that of more detailed self report measures of physical activity. It is a tool that can be used efficiently in routine primary healthcare services to identify insufficiently active patients who may need physical activity advice.
Marshall
A L
AL
School of Human Movement Studies, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia. alisonm@hms.uq.edu.au
Smith
B J
BJ
Bauman
A E
AE
Kaur
S
S
D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*