Validity and reliability of modified PAQ-A and LTEQ in adolescents of Karachi, Pakistan

Introduction: Patient satisfaction is considered to be a vital component in the evaluation of the quality of care.

Objectives: To evaluate the validity and reliability of the modified versions of Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (mPAQ-A) and Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (mLTEQ) against gold standard objective assessment tool pedometer in adolescent population of Pakistan

Methods: A total of 265 adolescents (mean age=13 years; SD=0.98) were recruited. The participants of the study were selected through simple random sampling. Physical activity was assessed by using both objective (pedometer) and subjective instruments (mPAQ-A and mLTEQ questionnaires). Validity and reliability of modified tools were assessed by using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), Cronbach's alpha and intra class correlation, respectively.

Results: For validity, the correlation between mPAQ-A/mLTEQ, mPAQ-A/pedometer step counts and mLTEQ/pedometer step counts were all statistically significant. Higher correlation between subjective assessment tools (mPAQ-A/mLTEQ) was observed. Likewise, the difference of time interval also had no effect on the validity of both questionnaires. The internal and test-retest reliability of mPAQ-A was found to be higher than mLTEQ. According to the graph of ROC the mPAQ-A is more slightly superior to the mLTEQ.

Conclusions: The questionnaire mPAQ-A in comparison to mLTEQ showed an acceptable to good validity and reliability among Pakistani adolescents.