ArticlePloS one2023
The dilemma of physical activity questionnaires: Fitter people are less prone to over reporting.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient-reported measures of physical activity level for older adults in the home care setting: a systematic review and assessment of psychometric properties.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Evaluating Causal and Noncausal Text Messages to Promote Physical Activity in Adults: Randomized Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Gender and socio-economic differences in physical activity and fitness among rural Bangladeshi adolescents: a cross-sectional study from the 15-year follow-up of MINIMat cohort.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Discordance Between Self-Reported Physical Activity and Field-Assessed Functional Capacity Among University Students: An Agreement and Directional Discordance Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Criterion Validity of the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YPAS) in Croatian Older Adults.Acta medica academica · 2026Article
- Sedentary time by occupation in a nationally representative Japanese population: a descriptive study using the National Health and Nutrition Survey.Journal of occupational health · 2026Article
- Physical activity levels and self-perception among patients living with chronic conditions in France: A population-based cross-sectional study using the ComPaRe cohort.The European journal of general practice · 2025Article
- More sedentary behavior and lower physical activity levels in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Maternal sedentary behavior and physical activity levels in early to mid-pregnancy and obstetric outcomes: a cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the Determinants and Correlates of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity of Adults in Eastern Poland.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Device measured physical activity before pregnancy and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the HUNT study: a population-based cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Association Between Physical Activity Level and Training Volume in Adolescent Athletes.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Internet use, physical activity, and cognitive function in Chinese older adults: a cross-lagged panel analysis.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Addressing Physical Inactivity in Mexican Children: The Role of Parents and Their Physical Literacy.Obesity science & practice · 2024Article
- Associations of maternal sedentary behavior and physical activity levels in early to mid-pregnancy with infant outcomes: A cohort study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Accelerometer-based and self-reported physical activity and sedentary time and their relationships with the P300 in a Go/No-Go task in older adults.Brain and cognition · 2024Article
- Reliability and Validity of Self-Reported Questionnaires Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Finland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Measurement of Sedentary Behavior-The Outcomes of the Angle for Posture Estimation (APE) Method.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Physical activity questionnaires (PAQs) are a popular method of monitoring physical activity, although their validity is usually low. Descriptions of physical activity levels in questionnaires usually rely on physical responses to physical activity. Therefore, we hypothesised that the validity of PAQs would be higher in the more physically fit group of participants. To test this, we conducted a validation study with 179 adults whom we divided into three fitness groups based on their cardiovascular fitness and age. Participants were measured for one week using the UKK RM42 accelerometer and self-reported their physical activity using IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ. We analysed the differences between fitness groups in terms of validity for each PAQ using ANOVA. We also performed an equivalence testing to compare the data obtained with the PAQs and the accelerometers. The results showed a significant trend toward higher validity for moderate to vigorous physical activity from the low to high fitness group as assessed by GPAQ and IPAQ-SF (low, intermediate and high fitness group: 0.06-0.21; 0.26-0.29; 0.40, respectively). The equivalence testing showed that all fitness groups overestimated their physical activity and underestimated their sedentary behaviour, with the high fitness group overestimating their physical activity the least. However, EHIS-PAQ was found to agree best with accelerometer data in assessing moderate to vigorous physical activity, regardless of fitness group, and had a validity greater than 0.4 for all fitness groups. In conclusion, we confirmed that when using PAQs describing physical responses to physical activity, participants' fitness should be considered in the interpretation, especially when comparing results internationally.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.