International consensus project on physical activity measurement

How did the project come about?
There has long been an interest in comparing physical activity levels across populations and nations. An International Consensus Group was formed by Dr. Michael Pratt of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, and Dr. Michael Booth of the University of New South Wales, Australia, to develop an internationally agreed upon set of measures of physical activity participation. Under the auspices of the World Health Organization's "Global Initiative on Active Living" and with the sponsorship of the CDC, the Consensus Group met in Geneva, Switzerland, in April 1998 to develop common instruments that could be used to gather physical activity surveillance system data. The resulting International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) were pilot-tested in early 1999 and results were presented at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Conference in June 1999.

Reliability and Validity Testing
To ensure that the IPAQ instruments have known validity and reliability across countries/cultures and that the prevalences obtained in population surveys are comparable, it is essential to employ standard methods in all participating countries. A Reliability and Validity Committee managed the international studies and ensure such standardization. The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute was one of 14 centres representing the 12 countries that participated in the validity and reliability phase. Analysis of the study was coordinated through the University of Sydney and was presented at the June 2000 conference of the ACSM. Published results will be forthcoming.

Executive Committee
Dr. Michael Sjöström, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden (Chair)
Ms. Cora Lynn Craig, Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, Canada (Chair, Research Committee)
Dr. Fiona Bull, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States (Chair, Policy Committee)

For more information, contact the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.