Physical Activity Measurement flow

Introduction

The purpose of the International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) is to provide common instruments that can be used to obtain internationally comparable data on health–related physical activity [1]. It was developed by the International Consensus Group on Physical Activity Measurement during the 90's [2].

The subject is asked a few questions about their physical activity (PA) during a typical week. The questions are categorized per level of physical activity:

1. Light PA (eg walking)
2. Moderate PA (eg cycling)
3. Vigorous PA (eg running)

For each category (light, moderate or vigorous PA) there are two questions asked:

1. How many days in a typical week do you perfom that kind of activity? (answer between [0-7])
2. How much time in a typical day do you usually spend on that activity? (answer in minutes/day)

Question 2 is not asked when answer on question 1 is 0.

The Physical Activity Measurement flow contains the Physical Activity Measurement questionnaire and associated calculation. After form submission, the Physical Activity Measurement calculation is executed automatically. It's easy to extend this flow with conditional logic based on the interpretation of the Physical Activity Measurement calculation.

Physical Activity Measurement questionnaire

Questionnaire

So the questionnaire contains 6 questions:

1. How many days of light PA in a typical week? (LIGHT_PA_DAYS_PER_WEEK)
2. How much time in a typical day do you usually spend on light PA? (LIGHT_PA_MINUTES_PER_DAY)
3. How many days of moderate PA in a typical week? (MODERATE_PA_DAYS_PER_WEEK)
4. How much time in a typical day do you usually spend on light PA? (MODERATE_PA_MINUTES_PER_DAY)
5. How many days of vigorous PA in a typical week? (VIGOROUS_PA_DAYS_PER_WEEK)
6. How much time in a typical day do you usually spend on vigorous PA? (VIGOROUS_PA_MINUTES_PER_DAY)

Click here to open the Dutch version of the PA in PDF

Interpretation

You perform sufficient physical activity when the total amount of PA in minutes/week > 150 or the total amount of PA in MET-minutes/week >= 600.

References

[1] Ainsworth BE, Bassett DR Jr, Strath SJ, Swartz AM, O'Brien WL, Thompson RW, Jones DA, Macera CA, Kimsey CD. Comparison of three methods for measuring the time spent in physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2000 Sep;32(9 Suppl):S457-64. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200009001-00004. PMID: 10993415.\
[2] MICHAEL BOOTH, International Consensus Group on Physical Activity Measurement, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 25, Issue 6, December 1996, Pages 1312–1313, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/25.6.1312