Estimation of Reproducibility and Relative Validity of the Questions Included in the EPIC Physical Activity Questionnaire

Background: The EPIC core questionnaire on lifestyle contains a number of questions on physical activity designed to rank subjects according to level of physical activity (short PA questionnaire). These questions are based on a more extensive questionnaire designed to measure absolute total energy expenditure (extensive PA questionnaire), that was validated in a pilot study preceding EPIC. Reproducibility and relative validity of the short PA questionnaire were estimated by selecting, from the pilot study data, the answers to a number of questions from the extensive questionnaire that resembled those actually included in the short version.

Methods: The population of the pilot study consisted of 126 men and women aged between 20 and 70 years. Reproducibility was estimated by administering the extensive questionnaire three times: at baseline, and after 5 and 11 months. In order to determine the relative validity of the extensive questionnaire, a 3-day activity diary, repeated four times, was used as the reference method.

Results: Over the study period (13 months), mean absolute energy expenditure, estimated from the questions included in the short questionnaire, was fairly constant in men but not in women. REPRODUCIBILITY: Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.47 to 0.89 in men, and from 0.49 to 0.81 in women. RELATIVE VALIDITY: Spearman correlation coefficients between the short questionnaire and the diary were between 0.32 and 0.81 for men, and between 0.28 and 0.72 for women.

Conclusions: The questions selected for the short questionnaire are not suitable for estimating energy expenditure at an absolute level. Reproducibility and relative validity of the ranking of subjects seemed satisfactory and comparable to the extensive questionnaire. The results imply that the short questionnaire is suitable for ranking subjects in the EPIC study.