Results from “Test-Retest Reliability and Walk Score® Neighbourhood Walkability Comparison of an Online Perceived Neighbourhood-Specific Adaptation of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)”.
Frehlich, L., Blackstaffe, A., & McCormack, G. R.
The built environment, or the surroundings in which we live, can support physical activity (1-3). However, much of the research looking at how the built environment influences physical activity is based on measures that do not ask where the activity has taken place. Knowledge of where a person’s physical activity takes place is an important component in understanding the relationship between the built environment and physical activity. The use of location measurement devices such as global positioning systems (GPS) monitors would be preferable; however, these devices are often very costly which limits their use in population studies. Online surveys have become commonplace in population health research for their ease of administration and researcher options such as being able to link and skip questions based on previous answers (4-7).
The Neighbourhood-International Physical Activity Questionnaire (N-IPAQ) is a reliable and valid questionnaire that measures neighbourhood-based physical activity (8,9). The N-IPAQ was recently tested using an online format in a Canadian population. Participants from varying levels of neighbourhood walkability were included in this study. The participants completed an online version of the N-IPAQ twice, approximately seven days apart. The results showed that the online administered N-IPAQ provided reliable and valid estimates of self-reported neighbourhood physical activity. Participants who lived in a higher walkable neighbourhood reported walking more for transportation compared to those who lived in a low walkable neighbourhood. In fact, those who lived in a high walkable neighbourhood were three times as likely to participate in walking for transportation, and reported undertaking over 40 minutes more of walking for transportation, compared to those who lived in a low walkable neighbourhood.
The online N-IPAQ was reliable and had similar reliability as the paper IPAQ. The online N-IPAQ also found differences in neighbourhoods that vary in their walkability. Future studies now have an easily administered questionnaire to use when investigating built environment and perceived neighbourhood-specific physical activity.
Suggested Citation: Frehlich, L., Blackstaffe, A., & McCormack, G. R. (2019). Test-Retest Reliability and Walk Score® Neighbourhood Walkability Comparison of an Online Perceived Neighbourhood-Specific Adaptation of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Int J Environ Res Public Health, 16(11). doi:10.3390/ijerph16111917
Written by Levi Frehlich, Msc, BScKin; Posted November 29th, 2019
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