Development and validation of the Spanish version of the PADEX checklist to promote adherence to physical exercise in people with long-term health conditions and older adults

Purpose: To develop and assess the validity of a simple and potentially useful tool with measures to enhance adherence to exercise programs to be used by researchers and exercise professionals when designing exercise interventions in people with long-term health conditions and older adults. Materials and methods: Based on a previous umbrella review, a checklist with key aspects for adherence to physical exercise named Promoting Adherence to Physical Exercise (PADEX) was created in Spanish. Subsequently, an evaluation of the comprehensibility, relevance, and applicability using a quantitative [0-10 points] and qualitative approach was performed by a panel of 31 independent experts. Furthermore, 20 breast cancer women who had been exercise users for at least 4 months evaluated the relevance of each item. Results: Mean and median scores were higher than 8 for all items in comprehensibility, relevance, and applicability. The final version of PADEX includes 23 items about the exercise program to be answered by the exercise professional who designs it or conducts it. Conclusions: The PADEX scale showed adequate face, content and construct validity. This checklist is a potentially useful tool for enhancing adherence to exercise programs in people with long-term health conditions and older adults.