Abstract

GUEDES, Dartagnan P.; LOPES, Cynthia C.; GUEDES, Joana E. R. P.  and  STANGANELLI, Luiz C.. Reproducibility and validity of the Baecke questionnaire for assessing of the habitual physical activity in adolescents. Rev. Port. Cien. Desp. [online]. 2006, vol.6, n.3, pp.265-274. ISSN 1645-0523.

The present study was designed to analyze the reproducibility and validity of Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Physical Activity (BQHPA) in specific sample of adolescents. A total of 161 subjects (92 girls and 69 boys) aged 12-17 years old were included in the study. For the assessment of reproducibility intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots were computed between administrations of the questionnaire at baseline, and after two weeks. Validity was determined by comparing questionnaire against a 24-hour recall instrument of the daily activities, which provided an estimate of the diary energy expenditure (kcal/kg/day). Proportion of agreement (kappa values) was calculated, based on categorization of the distributions of the physical activity variables into quartiles. The results showed correlation coefficients ranged from 0,55 to 0,85 in girls and 0,69 to 0,82 in boys. Although these data are comparable to most other self-report reproducibility studies, Bland-Altman plots demonstrated limited capacity of agreement between test-retest of the questionnaire. In terms of validity, the scores of physical activity reported in the BQHPA showed percentage of agreement between 33,5% and 76,6% with the 24-hour recall data. The indicators of validation observed were greater in boys older. In conclusion, these data provide evidence that, in adolescents of both sex with more than 14 years old, the BQHPA has acceptable measurement properties for monitoring levels of habitual physical activity. In youngest adolescents (≤ 14 years old), our findings indicate that the BQHPA should be used with some precautions.

Keywords : measurement; evaluation; methods; accuracy; reliability; validation.

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