Reliability and Validity of the Dutch Physical Activity Questionnaires for Children (PAQ-C) and Adolescents (PAQ-A)

Liene Bervoets; Caroline Van Noten; Sofie Van Roosbroeck; Dominique Hansen; Kim Van Hoorenbeeck; Els Verheyen; Guido Van Hal; Vanessa Vankerckhoven

doi:10.1186/2049-3258-72-47

Reliability and Validity of the Dutch Physical Activity Questionnaires for Children (PAQ-C) and Adolescents (PAQ-A)

Arch Public Health. 2014 Dec 24;72(1):47. doi: 10.1186/2049-3258-72-47. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Liene Bervoets¹, Caroline Van Noten², Sofie Van Roosbroeck³, Dominique Hansen⁴, Kim Van Hoorenbeeck⁵, Els Verheyen⁶, Guido Van Hal³, Vanessa Vankerckhoven⁶

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Martelarenlaan 42, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium.
² Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Martelarenlaan 42, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium ; Heart Centre Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, Stadsomvaart 11, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Paediatrics, Antwerp University Hospital, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium.
⁶ Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.

Abstract

Background: This study was designed to validate the Dutch Physical Activity Questionnaires for Children (PAQ-C) and Adolescents (PAQ-A).

Methods: After adjustment of the original Canadian PAQ-C and PAQ-A (i.e. translation/back-translation and evaluation by expert committee), content validity of both PAQs was assessed and calculated using item-level (I-CVI) and scale-level (S-CVI) content validity indexes. Inter-item and inter-rater reliability of 196 PAQ-C and 95 PAQ-A filled in by both children or adolescents and their parent, were evaluated. Inter-item reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha (α) and inter-rater reliability was examined by percent observed agreement and weighted kappa (κ). Concurrent validity of PAQ-A was examined in a subsample of 28 obese and 16 normal-weight children by comparing it with concurrently measured physical activity using a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test for the assessment of peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak).

Results: For both PAQs, I-CVI ranged 0.67-1.00. S-CVI was 0.89 for PAQ-C and 0.90 for PAQ-A. A total of 192 PAQ-C and 94 PAQ-A were fully completed by both child and parent. Cronbach's α was 0.777 for PAQ-C and 0.758 for PAQ-A. Percent agreement ranged 59.9-74.0% for PAQ-C and 51.1-77.7% for PAQ-A, and weighted κ ranged 0.48-0.69 for PAQ-C and 0.51-0.68 for PAQ-A. The correlation between total PAQ-A score and VO2 peak - corrected for age, gender, height and weight - was 0.516 (p = 0.001).

Conclusions: Both PAQs have an excellent content validity, an acceptable inter-item reliability and a moderate to good strength of inter-rater agreement. In addition, total PAQ-A score showed a moderate positive correlation with VO2 peak. Both PAQs have an acceptable to good reliability and validity, however, further validity testing is recommended to provide a more complete assessment of both PAQs.

Keywords: Pediatrics; Physical activity; Reliability; Validation.