Reliability and validity of the ONAPS physical activity questionnaire in assessing physical activity and sedentary behavior in French adults

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of a new questionnaire, the ONAPS-PAQ, developed to assess physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) in the general population. A total of 137 healthy adults aged 18 to 69 years were included. Following completion of two physical activity questionnaires (ONAPS-PAQ and GPAQ, the Global physical activity question-naire) to study concurrent validity, participants wore an accelerometer (UKK-RM42) for 7 days to study criterion validity. A subsample (n = 36) also completed a 7-day-interval test–retest protocol to assess its reliability. Reliability was tested by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Kappa coefficient; concurrent and criterion validity by the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) and Bland-Altman plot analyses. The ONAPS-PAQ showed good reliability (ICC = 0.71–0.98; Kappa = 0.61–0.99) and concurrent validity (ρ = 0.56–0.86), but only poor criterion validity (ρ = 0.26–0.41), and wide limits of agreement. Self-reported and accelerometer-measured SB were better correlated with ONAPS-PAQ than GPAQ (0.41 vs. 0.26, respectively) and medians were comparable, whereas the GPAQ underestimated SB (SBacc = 481 (432–566), SBONAPS = 480 (360–652), SBGPAQ = 360 (240–540) min·day−1; median (q1-q3)). The ONAPS-PAQ provides good reliability and acceptable validity for the measurement of PA and SB and seems to provide a better assessment of SB than GPAQ.