title: Evaluation of a questionnaire to assess sedentary and active behaviors in the Southern Community Cohort Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low physical activity (PA) is linked to cancer and other diseases prevalent in racial/ethnic minorities and low-income populations. This study evaluated the PA questionnaire (PAQ) used in the Southern Cohort Community Study, a prospective investigation of health disparities between African-American and white adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PAQ was administered upon entry into the cohort (PAQ1) and after 12-15 months (PAQ2) in 118 participants (40-60 year-old, 48% male, 74% African-American). Test-retest reliability (PAQ1 versus PAQ2) was assessed using Spearman correlations and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Criterion validity of the PAQ was assessed via comparison with a PA monitor and a last-month PA survey (LMPAS), administered up to 4 times in the study period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PAQ test-retest reliability ranged from 0.25-0.54 for sedentary behaviors and 0.22-0.47 for active behaviors. The criterion validity for the PAQ compared with PA monitor ranged from 0.21-0.24 for sedentary behaviors and from 0.17-0.31 for active behaviors. There was general consistency in the magnitude of correlations between the PAQ and PA-monitor between African-Americans and whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SCCS-PAQ has fair to moderate test-retest reliability and demonstrated some evidence of criterion validity for ranking participants by their level of sedentary and active behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Maciej S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Buchowski
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.forename: Sarah S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Lisa B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Signorello
authors.forename: Jay H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Fowke
authors.forename: Margaret K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hargreaves
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Schlundt
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Blot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015144:Southeastern United States; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*