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Validity of the international physical activity questionnaire short form (IPAQ-SF): A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Background: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF) has been recommended as a cost-effective method to assess physical activity. Several studies validating the IPAQ-SF have been conducted with differing results, but no systematic review of these studies has been reported. Methods: The keywords "IPAQ", "validation", and "validity" were searched in PubMed and Scopus. Studies published in English that validated the IPAQ-SF against an objective physical activity measuring device, doubly labeled water, or an objective fitness measure were included. Results: Twenty-three validation studies were included in this review. There was a great deal of variability in the methods used across studies, but the results were largely similar. Correlations between the total physical activity level measured by the IPAQ-SF and objective standards ranged from 0.09 to 0.39; none reached the minimal acceptable standard in the literature (0.50 for objective activity measuring devices, 0.40 for fitness measures). Correlations between sections of the IPAQ-SF for vigorous activity or moderate activity level/walking and an objective standard showed even greater variability (-0.18 to 0.76), yet several reached the minimal acceptable standard. Only six studies provided comparisons between physical activity levels derived from the IPAQ-SF and those obtained from objective criterion. In most studies the IPAQ-SF overestimated physical activity level by 36 to 173 percent; one study underestimated by 28 percent. Conclusions: The correlation between the IPAQ-SF and objective measures of activity or fitness in the large majority of studies was lower than the acceptable standard. Furthermore, the IPAQ-SF typically overestimated physical activity as measured by objective criterion by an average of 84 percent. Hence, the evidence to support the use of the IPAQ-SF as an indicator of relative or absolute physical activity is weak.
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“Although the use of these types of questionnaires is widely accepted, self-reported questionnaires have been shown to be less robust in measuring energy expenditure and MVPA when compared with objective measures [98,99].”
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“Physical activity level was evaluated using the short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire [19] for the seven days prior to the randomization, as well as dietary consumption using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire [20].”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Lee, P. H., Macfarlane, D. J., Lam, T., & Stewart, S. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lam, TH
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Published
- 2011-10-21
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 115-115
- ISSN
- 1479-5868 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3214824
- OpenAlex
- W2155827104
- Cited by
- 3,370
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 372 · 2025: 431 · 2024: 444 · 2023: 380 · 2022: 380 · 2021: 337 · 2020: 275 · 2019: 169 · 2018: 143 · 2017: 116 · 2016: 107 · 2015: 81 · 2014: 63 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 4.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
- Keywords
- IPAQ-SF, physical activity measurement, questionnaire validity, self-reported physical activity, doubly labeled water, fitness measures, overestimation of physical activity, vigorous activity, walking
- MeSH terms
- Physical Exertion, Humans, Physical Fitness, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results, Exercise, Walking, Validation Studies as Topic
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