Measurement of physical activity in cancer survivors--a comparison of the HUNT 1 Physical Activity Questionnaire (HUNT 1 PA-Q) with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and aerobic capacity.
OBJECTIVE
Physical activity (PA) is an important adjuvant component in all phases of the cancer disease and PA is important for better functioning, coping with the situation and overall quality of life (QoL). In order to achieve better scientific knowledge of the effect of PA in cancer survivors, it is of paramount importance to have validated and feasible assessment tools for PA.


METHODS
This validation study, which was part of an open intervention study, used a cross-sectional and a longitudinal design. The HUNT 1 physical activity questionnaire (HUNT 1 PA-Q) was compared to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and aerobic capacity. The participants were cancer survivors with different diagnoses attending an inpatient rehabilitation program partly focusing on physical training.


RESULTS
The correlations between HUNT 1 PA-Q and IPAQ were 0.41 at pre-test and 0.57 at post-test, and sensitivity to change (effect size) was 0.42 for both questionnaires. VO(2 max) demonstrated high sensitivity to change (0.68) and low correlations with HUNT 1 PA-Q (0.30 at pre-test and 0.21 at post-test). There were 13 incomplete HUNT 1 PA-Q forms and 48 incomplete IPAQ forms during the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
HUNT 1 PA-Q is considered suitable for use in cancer survivors and should be preferred to IPAQ because it was easier to fill in and provided more complete data. Aerobic capacity measures other aspect of PA and should be used as a supplement to PA questionnaire when the aim is to capture health effects related to aerobic capacity.
Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. gro.f.bertheussen@ntnu.no
Gro F
GF
Bertheussen
Line
L
Oldervoll
Stein
S
Kaasa
Jon-Arne
JA
Sandmæl
Jorunn L
JL
Helbostad
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017567:Karnofsky Performance Status; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009664:Norway; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*