Validity and reliability of the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) in Japanese elderly people.
OBJECTIVE
In Japan, there are no valid and reliable physical activity questionnaires for elderly people. In this study, we translated the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) into Japanese and assessed its validity and reliability.


METHODS
Three hundred and twenty-five healthy and elderly subjects over 65 years were enrolled. Concurrent validity was evaluated by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between PASE scores and an accelerometer (waking steps and energy expenditure), a physical activity questionnaire for adults in general (the Japan Arteriosclerosis Longitudinal Study Physical Activity Questionnaire, JALSPAQ), grip strength, mid-thigh muscle area per bodyweight, static valance and bodyfat percentage. Reliability was evaluated by the test-retest method over a period of 3-4 weeks.


RESULTS
The mean PASE score in this study was 114.9. The PASE score was significantly correlated with walking steps (rho = 0.17, P = 0.014), energy expenditure (rho = 0.16, P = 0.024), activity measured with the JALSPAQ (rho = 0.48, P < 0.001), mid-thigh muscle area per bodyweight (rho = 0.15, P = 0.006) and static balance (rho = 0.19, P = 0.001). The proportion of consistency in the response between the first and second surveys was adequately high. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the PASE score was 0.65.


CONCLUSIONS
The Japanese version of PASE was shown to have acceptable validity and reliability. The PASE is useful to measure the physical activity of elderly people in Japan.
Hagiwara
Akiko
A
Fukuyama Transporting Shibuya Longevity Health Foundation, Hiroshima, Japan. YQL00705@nifty.com
Ito
Naomi
N
Sawai
Kazuhiko
K
Kazuma
Keiko
K
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*