Test-retest reliability of a modified International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to capture neighbourhood physical activity

Introduction: Few self-report tools capture neighbourhood physical activity. The aim of our study was to modify a widely-used self-report tool (International Physical Activity Questionnaire - IPAQ) to capture neighbourhood physical activity and estimate the test-retest reliability of these modifications. Material and Methods: Seventy-five adults completed the modified IPAQ twice, 7-days apart, capturing neighbourhood days.week(-1) and usual minutes.day(-1) of bicycling and walking for transport and leisure, moderate physical activity, and vigorous physical activity. Test-retest reliability was assessed with Intraclass Correlations (ICC), percent of overall agreement and Kappa statistics (kappa). Results: Consistency in participation in neighbourhood PA ranged from k = 0.21 for moderate physical activity to k = 0.55 for vigorous physical activity, while proportion of overall agreement ranged from 64.0% for moderate physical activity to 81.3% for bicycling for transportation. ICC for reported neighbourhood PA between the two occasions ranged from ICC = 0.33 for moderate physical activity to ICC = 0.69 for bicycling for transportation for days.week(-1), ICC = 0.17 for bicycling for transportation to ICC = 0.48 for walking for leisure for minutes.day(-1), and ICC = 0.31 for vigorous physical activity to ICC = 0.52 for walking for leisure for minutes.week(-1). Conclusions: With the exception of minutes spent bicycling for transportation, our findings suggest that IPAQ items can be modified to provide reliable estimates of neighbourhood physical activity.