Short Communication
International Journal of Obesity advance online publication 8 April 2008; doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.42
Assessment of the physical activity level with two questions: validation with doubly labeled water
G Johansson1,2 and K R Westerterp3
- 1Department of Health Behaviours, The Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Östersund, Sweden
- 2Department of Food and Nutrition, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- 3Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Correspondence: Professor G Johansson, The Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Östersund SE-831 40, Sweden. E-mail: gunnar.johansson@fhi.se
Received 30 November 2007; Revised 13 February 2008; Accepted 15 February 2008; Published online 8 April 2008.
Abstract
Objective:
To validate a two-question questionnaire on physical activity with the doubly labeled water (DLW) method.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Subjects:
Nine volunteers, age 33–75 years, with a mean body mass index (BMI) (kg m-2) of 27.4.
Measurements:
A questionnaire with one question on physical activity at work and one question on physical activity during leisure time. The answers were converted into a PAL (physical activity level=energy expenditure/basal metabolic rate) value, which was validated with the DLW method.
Results:
The mean values (s.d.) of PAL for the questionnaire and DLW measurements were 1.7 (0.1) and 1.7 (0.1), respectively, with a mean difference of 0.004 (0.172).
Conclusions:
The results were promising to the extent that they could be used in large-scale epidemiological studies.
Keywords:
energy expenditure, doubly labeled water method, physical activity questionnaire, validation
