Validity and Reliability of IPAQ-SF and GPAQ for Assessing Sedentary Behaviour in Adults in the European Union: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• Main Authors: Kaja Meh, Gregor Jurak, Maroje Sorić, Paulo Rocha, Vedrana Sember
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: human activities; exercise; lifestyle; physical fitness; surveys and questionnaires; self-report
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4602
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Current lifestyles are marked by sedentary behaviour; thus, it is of great importance for policymaking to have valid and reliable tools to measure sedentary behaviour in order to combat it. Therefore, the aim of this review and meta-analysis is to critically review, assess, and compile the reliability, criterion validity, and construct validity of the single-item sedentary behaviour questions within national language versions of most commonly used international physical activity questionnaires for adults in the European Union: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form and the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. A total of 1749 records were screened, 287 full-text papers were read, and 14 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results and quality of studies were evaluated by the Quality Assessment of Physical Activity Questionnaires checklist. Meta-analysis indicated moderate to high reliability (r_w= 0.59) and concurrent validity (r_w= 0.55) of national language versions of single-item sedentary behaviour questions. Criterion validity was rather low (r_w= 0.23) but in concordance with previous studies. The risk of bias analysis highlighted the poor reporting of methods and results, with a total bias score of 0.42. Thus, we recommend using multi-item SB questionnaires and smart trackers for providing information on SB rather than single-item sedentary behaviour questions in physical activity questionnaires.