Validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) as a measure of physical activity (PA) in young people with cerebral palsy

Abstract

© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) as a measure of physical activity (PA) in young people with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design Cross-sectional.

Setting Participants were recruited through 8 National Health Service (NHS) trusts, one school, one university and through organisations that provide services for people with disabilities in England.

Participants Sixty-four, ambulatory young people aged 10-19 years with CP [Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I–III] participated in this study.

Main outcome measure The IPAQ-SF was administered to participants. Participants were then asked to wear a wGT3X-BT triaxial accelerometer (ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL) for 7 days to objectively assess PA. Time spent in sedentary behaviour, in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and in total PA (TPA) was compared between measures.

Results Young people with CP self-reported less time in sedentary behaviour and underestimated the time spent in TPA,when compared to accelerometer measurements. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated poor agreement between the measures for MVPA, with upper and lower 95% limits of agreement of -147.23 to 148.9 min. After adjusting for gender and GMFCS level, age was a predictor of the difference between measures for MVPA (p < 0.001) and TPA (p < 0.001).

Conclusions These findings suggest that the IPAQ-SF is not a valid method of measuring TPA or sedentary behaviour in young people with CP andit is not appropriate for use when assessing an individual’s time in MVPA. Therefore, where feasible, an objective measure of PA should be used.