Research Study Abstract

Validity and responsiveness to change of the Active Australia Survey according to gender, age, BMI, education, and physical activity level and awareness

  • Published on April 15, 2019

Background
This study aimed to investigate the validity of the Active Australia Survey across different subgroups and its responsiveness to change, as few previous studies have examined this.

Methods
The Active Australia Survey was validated against the ActiGraph as an objective measure of physical activity. Participants (n = 465) wore the ActiGraph for 7 days and subsequently completed the Active Australia Survey. Moderate activity, vigorous activity and total moderate and vigorous physical activity were compared using Spearman rank-order correlations. Changes in physical activity between baseline and 3-month assessments were correlated to examine responsiveness to change. The data were stratified to assess outcomes according to different subgroups (e.g., gender, age, weight, activity levels).

Results
With regards to the validity, a significant correlation of ρ = 0.19 was found for moderate physical activity, ρ = 0.33 for vigorous physical activity and ρ = 0.23 for moderate and vigorous physical activity combined. For vigorous physical activity correlations were higher than 0.3 for most subgroups, whereas they were only higher than 0.3 in those with a healthy weight for the other activity outcomes. With regards to responsiveness to change, a correlation of ρ = 0.32 was found for moderate physical activity, ρ = 0.19 for vigorous physical activity and ρ = 0.35 for moderate and vigorous physical activity combined. For moderate and vigorous activity combined correlations were higher than 0.4 for several subgroups, but never for vigorous physical activity.

Conclusions
Little evidence for the validity of Active Australia Survey was found, although the responsiveness to change was acceptable for several subgroups. Findings from studies using the Active Australia Survey should be interpreted with caution.

Author(s)

  • Corneel Vandelanotte 1
  • Mitch J. Duncan 2
  • Rob Stanton 3
  • Richard R. Rosenkranz 4
  • Cristina M. Caperchione 5
  • Amanda L. Rebar 1
  • Trevor N. Savage 6
  • W. Kerry Mummery 7
  • Gregory S. Kolt 6

Institution(s)

  • 1

    Physical Activity Research Group, School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia
  • 2

    School of Medicine & Public Health; Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  • 3

    School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia
  • 4

    Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
  • 5

    School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • 6

    School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  • 7

    Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Journal

BMC Public Health

Download Abstract

s12889-019-6717-1

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