Dataset Information

Assessment of environmental correlates of physical activity: development of a European questionnaire.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Research on the influence of the physical environment on physical activity is rapidly expanding and different measures of environmental perceptions have been developed, mostly in the US and Australia. The purpose of this paper is to (i) provide a literature review of measures of environmental perceptions recently used in European studies and (ii) develop a questionnaire for population monitoring purposes in the European countries.

Methods

This study was done within the framework of the EU-funded project 'Instruments for Assessing Levels of Physical Activity and Fitness (ALPHA)', which aims to propose standardised instruments for physical activity and fitness monitoring across Europe. Quantitative studies published from 1990 up to November 2007 were systematically searched in Pubmed, Web of Science, TRIS and Geobase. In addition a survey was conducted among members of the European network for the promotion of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA Europe) and European members of the International Physical Activity and Environment Network (IPEN) to identify published or ongoing studies. Studies were included if they were conducted among European general adult population (18+y) and used a questionnaire to assess perceptions of the physical environment. A consensus meeting with an international expert group was organised to discuss the development of a European environmental questionnaire.

Results

The literature search resulted in 23 European studies, 15 published and 8 unpublished. In these studies, 13 different environmental questionnaires were used. Most of these studies used adapted versions of questionnaires that were developed outside Europe and that focused only on the walkability construct: The Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale (NEWS), the abbreviated version of the NEWS (ANEWS) and the Neighborhood Quality of Life Study (NQLS) questionnaire have been most commonly used. Based on the results of the literature review and the output of the meeting with international experts, a European environmental questionnaire with 49 items was developed.

Conclusion

There is need for a greater degree of standardization in instruments/methods used to assess environmental correlates of physical activity, taking into account the European-specific situation. A first step in this process is taken by the development of a European environmental questionnaire.

SUBMITTER: Spittaels H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2713198 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Assessment of environmental correlates of physical activity: development of a European questionnaire.

Spittaels Heleen H Foster Charlie C Oppert Jean-Michel JM Rutter Harry H Oja Pekka P Sjöström Michael M De Bourdeaudhuij Ilse I

The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 20090706

<h4>Background</h4>Research on the influence of the physical environment on physical activity is rapidly expanding and different measures of environmental perceptions have been developed, mostly in the US and Australia. The purpose of this paper is to (i) provide a literature review of measures of environmental perceptions recently used in European studies and (ii) develop a questionnaire for population monitoring purposes in the European countries.<h4>Methods</h4>This study was done within the ...[more]

PMID: 19580645

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Project description:BackgroundA questionnaire to assess physical activity related environmental factors in the European population (a 49-item and an 11-item version) was created as part of the framework of the EU-funded project "Instruments for Assessing Levels of PHysical Activity and fitness (ALPHA)". This paper reports on the development and assessment of the questionnaire's test-retest stability, predictive validity, and applicability to European adults.MethodsThe first pilot test was conducted in Belgium, France and the UK. In total 190 adults completed both forms of the ALPHA questionnaire twice with a one-week interval. Physical activity was concurrently measured (i) by administration of the long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) by interview and (ii) by accelerometry (Actigraph device). After adaptations, the second field test took place in Belgium, the UK and Austria; 166 adults completed the adapted questionnaire at two time points, with minimum one-week interval. In both field studies intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and proportion of agreement were computed to assess the stability of the two test scores. Predictive validity was examined in the first field test by correlating the results of the questionnaires with physical activity data from accelerometry and long IPAQ-last 7 days.ResultsThe reliability scores of the ALPHA questionnaire were moderate-to good in the first field testing (ICC range 0.66 - 0.86) and good in the second field testing (ICC range 0.71 - 0.87). The proportion of agreement for the ALPHA short increased significantly from the first (range 50 - 83%) to the second field testing (range 85 - 95%). Environmental scales from both versions of the ALPHA questionnaire were significantly associated with self-reported minutes of transport-related walking, and objectively measured low intensity physical activity levels, particularly in women. Both versions were easily administered with an average completion time of six minutes for the 49-item version and less than two minutes for the short version.ConclusionThe ALPHA questionnaire is an instrument to measure environmental perceptions in relation to physical activity. It appears to have good reliability and predictive validity. The questionnaire is now available to other researchers to investigate its usefulness and applicability across Europe.

Project description:ObjectiveTo examine the validity of the Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire (RPAQ) which assesses physical activity (PA) in 4 domains (leisure, work, commuting, home) during past month.Methods580 men and 1343 women from 10 European countries attended 2 visits at which PA energy expenditure (PAEE), time at moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary time were measured using individually-calibrated combined heart-rate and movement sensing. At the second visit, RPAQ was administered electronically. Validity was assessed using agreement analysis.ResultsRPAQ significantly underestimated PAEE in women [median(IQR): 34.9 (22.3, 52.8) vs. 40.6 (32.4, 50.9) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -44.4, 66.1 kJ/kg/day) and overestimated PAEE in men [45.9 (30.6, 71.1) vs. 45.5 (34.1, 57.6) kJ/kg/day, 95%LoA: -44.8, 102.6 kJ/kg/day]. Using individualised definition of 1MET, RPAQ significantly underestimated MVPA in women [median(IQR): 63.7 (30.5, 126.9) vs. 73.6 (47.8, 107.2) min/day, 95%LoA: -127.4, 311.9 min/day] and overestimated MVPA in men [90.0 (42.3, 188.6) vs. 83.3 (55.1, 125.0) min/day, 95%LoA: -134.8, 427.3 min/day]. Correlations (95%CI) between subjective and objective estimates were statistically significant [PAEE: women, rho = 0.20 (0.15-0.26); men, rho = 0.37 (0.30-0.44); MVPA: women, rho = 0.18 (0.13-0.24); men, rho = 0.31 (0.24-0.38)]. When using non-individualised definition of 1MET (3.5 mlO2/kg/min), MVPA was substantially overestimated (16 min/day, and 32 min/day in women and men, respectively). Revisiting occupational intensity assumptions in questionnaire estimation algorithms with occupational group-level empirical distributions reduced median PAEE-bias in manual (38.8 kJ/kg/day vs. 6.8 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) and heavy manual workers (63.6 vs. -2.8 kJ/kg/day, p<0.001) in an independent hold-out sample [corrected].ConclusionRelative validity of RPAQ-derived PAEE and MVPA is comparable to previous studies but underestimation of PAEE is smaller. Electronic RPAQ may be used in large-scale epidemiological studies including surveys, providing information on all domains of PA.

Project description:BackgroundValid measures of physical activity correlates in preschool children are lacking. This study aimed to assess the validity, factor structure and internal consistency of a maternal questionnaire on potential correlates of four-year-old children's physical activity.MethodsThe questionnaire was designed to measure the following constructs: child personal factors; parental support and self-efficacy for providing support; parental rules and restrictions; maternal attitudes and perceptions; maternal behaviour; barriers to physical activity; and the home and local environments. Two separate studies were conducted. Study I included 24 mothers of four-year-old children who completed the questionnaire then participated in a telephone interview covering similar items to the questionnaire. To assess validity, the agreement between interview and questionnaire responses was assessed using Cohen's kappa and percentage agreement. Study II involved 398 mothers of four-year-old children participating in the Southampton Women's Survey. In this study, principal components analysis was used to explore the factor structure of the questionnaire to aid future analyses with these data. The internal consistency of the factors identified was assessed using Cronbach's alpha.ResultsKappa scores showed 30% of items to have moderate agreement or above, 23% to have fair agreement and 47% to have slight or poor agreement. However, 89% of items had fair agreement as assessed by percentage agreement (>/= 66%). Limited variation in responses to variables is likely to have contributed to some of the low kappa values. Six questions had a low kappa and low percentage agreement (defined as poor validity); these included questions from the child personal factors, maternal self-efficacy, rules and restrictions, and local environment domains. The principal components analysis identified eleven factors and found several variables to stand alone. Eight of the composite factors identified had acceptable internal consistency (alpha >/= 0.60) and three fell just short of achieving this (0.60 > alpha > 0.50).ConclusionOverall, this maternal questionnaire had reasonable validity and internal consistency for assessing potential correlates of physical activity in young children. With minor revision, this could be a useful tool for future research in this area. This, in turn, will aid the development of interventions to promote physical activity in this age group.

Project description:BackgroundOverweight and low levels of physical activity (PA) in preschoolers are major public health concerns. However, to date only few studies have investigated subjective and objective correlates of PA across different socioecological domains in preschoolers. We therefore simultaneously investigate associations between preschoolers' objectively measured leisure-time PA and a comprehensive set of subjective and objective potential PA correlates across the behavioral, social and physical environmental domains on both family- and community-level.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and total PA (TPA) were measured by combined accelerometry and heart rate monitoring in 735 3-6 year-old children from 52 preschools in Southern Germany. Family- and community-level potential correlates of PA from different domains (behavioral, social and physical environmental) were subjectively (i.e. by parent proxy-report) and objectively assessed. Their associations with PA on weekend days and weekday afternoons were tested by covariate-adjusted multilevel regression models.ResultsWhile none of the objective social and physical environmental factors showed associations with PA, subjective parental traffic safety perceptions were positively associated with MVPA and TPA on weekends. Also, preschoolers' participation in organized sports was positively correlated with MVPA (on weekends) and TPA (both on weekends and weekday afternoons).ConclusionSubjective traffic safety perceptions and participation in organized sports, an indicator and a result of parental support towards PA - i.e. subjective parental perceptions of environmental factors and family-level correlates which are more proximal to preschoolers - might be more central to PA in preschool age than objectively assessed community-level environmental features which tend to be more distal correlates. If replicable, targeting parental perceptions of environmental factors and parental support for PA in preschool age might be powerful leverages for public health policy.

Dataset Information

Assessment of environmental correlates of physical activity: development of a European questionnaire.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Assessment of environmental correlates of physical activity: development of a European questionnaire.

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