Ambiguity in Communicating Intensity of Physical Activity: Survey Study

Abstract

Background: Communicating physical activity information with sufficient details, such as activity type, frequency, duration, and intensity, is vital to accurately delineate the attributes of physical activity that bring positive health impact. Unlike frequency and duration, intensity is a subjective concept that can be interpreted differently by people depending on demographics, health status, physical fitness, and exercise habits. However, activity intensity is often communicated using general degree modifiers, degree of physical exertion, and physical activity examples, which are the expressions that people may interpret differently. Lack of clarity in communicating the intensity level of physical activity is a potential barrier to an accurate assessment of exercise effect and effective imparting of exercise recommendations. Objective: This study aimed to assess the variations in people’s perceptions and interpretations of commonly used intensity descriptions of physical activities and to identify factors that may contribute to these variations. Methods: A Web-based survey with a 25-item questionnaire was conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk, targeting adults residing in the United States. The questionnaire included questions on participants’ demographics, exercise habits, overall perceived health status, and perceived intensity of 10 physical activity examples. The survey responses were analyzed using the R statistical package. Results: The analyses included 498 responses. The majority of respondents were females (276/498, 55.4%) and whites (399/498, 79.9%). Numeric ratings of physical exertion after exercise were relatively well associated with the 3 general degree descriptors of exercise intensity: light, moderate, and vigorous. However, there was no clear association between the intensity expressed with those degree descriptors and the degree of physical exertion the participants reported to have experienced after exercise. Intensity ratings of various examples of physical activity differed significantly according to respondents’ characteristics. Regression analyses showed that those who reported good health or considered regular exercise was important for their health tended to rate the intensity levels of the activity examples significantly higher than their counterparts. The respondents’ age and race (white vs nonwhite) were not significant predictors of the intensity rating. Conclusions: This survey showed significant variations in how people perceive and interpret the intensity levels of physical activities described with general severity modifiers, degrees of physical exertion, and physical activity examples. Considering that these are among the most widely used methods of communicating physical activity intensity in current practice, a possible miscommunication in assessing and promoting physical activity seems to be a real concern. We need to adopt a method that represents activity intensity in a quantifiable manner to avoid unintended miscommunication.