title: Reliability and validity of the IPAQ-Chinese: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Han Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Duncan J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
authors.forename: G Neil
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Xiang Qian
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Lao
authors.forename: Chao Qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Kar Keung
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Tai Hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: 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*