Systematic Reviews
A systematic review of evaluation studies on physical activity questionnaires for children and adolescents
Xi Yang, Jingyi Chen, Yi Zhai, Wenhua Zhao
Published 2019-12-06
Cite as Chin J Prev Med, 2019, 53(12): 1290-1295. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0253-9624.2019.12.016
Abstract
ObjectiveTo systematically review the structure and content of physical activity questionnaires for children and adolescents and assess the overall validity and reliability of the existing international questionnaires in the last 10 years.
MethodsSearch terms, including"Physical Activity" AND "Questionnaire" OR "Self-report" OR "Recall" AND "Child*" OR "Adolescen*" OR "Youth" AND 'Valid*’ OR "Reliab*" OR "Reproducib*" OR "Sensitiv*" OR "Responsiv*", were searched for evaluation studies on physical activity questionnaires for children and adolescents in PubMed/Medline and EMBASE database from January 2008 to December 2018. The quality of eligible literature was assessed by using the consensus-based standards for the selection of health status measurement instruments (COSMIN).
ResultsA total of 37 articles containing 36 physical activity questionnaires in 7 989 participants were included. There were 68 studies on the assessment of the validity and reliability of assorted physical activity questionnaires, 45 studies for validity and 23 for reliability. The median Spearman correlation coefficients in validity studies were 0.28 for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, 0.15 for moderate-intensity physical activity, 0.27 for vigorous-intensity physical activity and 0.31 for physical activity energy expenditure. The median reliability correlation coefficients were 0.32 for sedentary behaviors, 0.53 for light-intensity physical activity, 0.80 for moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity, 0.54 for moderate-intensity physical activity and 0.69 for vigorous-intensity physical activity.
ConclusionThe reliability of physical activity questionnaires measured moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for children and adolescents is acceptable, but the validity is low.
Key words:
Child; Adolescent; Motor activity; Systematic review
Contributor Information
Xi Yang
National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Jingyi Chen
National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China
Yi Zhai
Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing 100070, China
Wenhua Zhao
National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100050, China