Is the Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire Valid to Assess Older Adults Aerobic Fitness?
BACKGROUND
Aerobic fitness in older adults is related to health status, incident disability, nursing home admission, and all-cause mortality. The most accurate quantification of aerobic fitness, expressed as peak oxygen consumption in mL·kg·min, is the cardiorespiratory exercise test; however, it is not feasible in all settings and might offer risk to patients. The Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ) is a 13-item self-administered symptom questionnaire that estimates aerobic fitness expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs) and has been validated to cardiovascular patients.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the VSAQ in older adults without specific health conditions.


METHODS
A methodological study with a cross-sectional design was conducted with 28 older adults (66-86 years). The VSAQ was administered on 3 occasions by 2 evaluators. Aerobic capacity in METs as measured by the VSAQ was compared with the METs found in an incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT) performed with a portable metabolic measurement system and with accelerometer data.


RESULTS
The validity of the VSAQ was found to be moderate-to-good when compared with the METs and distance measured by the ISWT and with the moderate activity per day and steps per day obtained by accelerometry. The Bland-Altman graph analysis showed no values outside the limits of agreement, suggesting good precision between the METs estimated by questionnaire and the METs measured by the ISWT. Also, the intrarater and interrater reliabilities of the instrument were good.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that the VSAQ is a valuable tool to assess the aerobic fitness of older adults.
1Department of Physical Therapy-Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri/UFVJM, Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 2Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences-Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais/UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Alessandra
A
de Carvalho Bastone
Bruno
B
de Souza Moreira
Claudine Patrícia
CP
Teixeira
João Marcos Domingues
JM
Dias
Rosângela Corrêa
RC
Dias
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055686:Metabolic Equivalent; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014728:Veterans