title: Reproducibility of physical activity recall over fifteen years: longitudinal evidence from the CARDIA study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To examine the benefits of physical activity (PA) on diseases with a long developmental period, it is important to determine reliability of long-term PA recall.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated 15-year reproducibility of PA recall. Participants were 3605 White and African-American adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, aged 33-45 at the time of recall assessment. Categorical questions assessed PA before and during high school (HS) and overall PA level at Baseline, with the same timeframes recalled 15 years later. Moderate- and vigorous-intensity scores were calculated from reported months of participation in specific activities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HS PA recall had higher reproducibility than overall PA recall (weighted kappa = 0.43 vs. 0.21). Correlations between 15-year recall and Baseline reports of PA were r = 0.29 for moderate-intensity scores, and r = 0.50 for vigorous-intensity. Recall of vigorous activities had higher reproducibility than moderate-intensity activities. Regardless of number of months originally reported for specific activities, most participants recalled either no activity or activity during all 12 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PA recall from the distant past is moderately reproducible, but poor at the individual level, among young and middle aged adults.
authors: Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. smithas@mail.nih.gov
authors: Ashley Wilder
authors: AW
authors: Smith
authors: Kathleen A
authors: KA
authors: Cronin
authors: Heather
authors: H
authors: Bowles
authors: Gordon
authors: G
authors: Willis
authors: David R
authors: DR
authors: Jacobs
authors: Rachel
authors: R
authors: Ballard-Barbash
authors: Richard P
authors: RP
authors: Troiano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease; D003710:Demography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult