Reliability and validity of the IPAQ-Chinese: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Valid measurements of self-reported physical activity are very limited in Chinese populations, especially the elderly. Therefore, we examined the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-C) in older Chinese people.


METHODS
Two hundred twenty-four older adults (66.1% women, 33.9% men, mean age 65.2 +/- 5.7 yr) were randomly selected from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study, a prospective cohort of older Chinese in Southern China. To examine the test-retest reliability, the participants completed the IPAQ-C twice during a 7-d interval. The criterion validity of the IPAQ-C was tested with pedometry.


RESULTS
Good reliability was observed between the repeated IPAQ-C, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) ranging from 0.81 to 0.89. Total activity measured by IPAQ-C correlated moderately with the pedometer-measured steps (partial r = 0.33 adjusted for sex, age, and education; P < 0.001). The walking domain of IPAQ-C was strongly associated with the number of steps (partial r = 0.58, P < 0.001), but there were no significant associations between other activity domains of the IPAQ-C and the pedometer data.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first reported validation study of an international standardized questionnaire (IPAQ-C) in older Chinese adults. Our study shows that the IPAQ-C is adequately valid and reliable for assessing total physical activity and that it may be a useful instrument for generating internationally comparable data on physical activity in this population.
Deng
Han Bing
HB
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Macfarlane
Duncan J
DJ
Thomas
G Neil
GN
Lao
Xiang Qian
XQ
Jiang
Chao Qiang
CQ
Cheng
Kar Keung
KK
Lam
Tai Hing
TH
D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D009043:Motor Activity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*