Citation

McClain JJ, Grant D, Willis G, Berrigan D. J. Phys. Act. Health 2012; 9(3): 344-351.

Affiliation

Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

21934160

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Question design can influence the validity and reliability of physical activity (PA) self-report instruments. This study assesses the effect of temporal domain (-days‖ walked versus -times‖ walked) on survey questions about walking behavior. METHODS: A 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) subsample (n=6332) reported the number of days or times they walked for leisure or transportation in the past 7 days and the usual time spent per day or per time. Question order was randomized by temporal domain. Minutes walked per week (mean±SE) and adherence to PA guidelines (≥150 min/wk) were assessed. RESULTS: Estimates of leisure walking remained stable across temporal domain (days=71.4±2.5 min; times=73.4±2.4 min), but transportation walking differed depending on domain (days=70.4±3.2 min; times=52.5±2.6 min). Adherence to PA guidelines based on leisure walking was stable across temporal domain (days=14.9±0.6%; times=14.9±0.6%), but again differed by domain for transportation walking (days=10.4±0.6%; times=7.8±0.5%). A large order effect (number-of-days versus number-of-times asked first) was observed for reports of days walking for transportation (days first=87.8±2.9 min; times first=52.3±2.5 min). CONCLUSION: Temporal domain influences estimates of self-reported transportation walking behavior. Current efforts to capture PA from both transportation and leisure activities in health research appear to present distinct methodological challenges.

Language: en