Background

Physical activity and sedentary behavior vary across the life span, and in very old people activity behavior can vary considerably over 24 hours. A physical activity questionnaire adapted for this age group is lacking. This study was conducted to validate such a newly developed questionnaire suitable for use in very old people.

Research question

Is the International Physical Activity Questionnaire adapted for adults aged ≥ 80 years (IPAQ-E 80+) a valid measure of physical activity in very old people?

Methods

Seventy-six participants (55.3% women) with a mean age of 84.4 ± 3.8 years wore accelerometers for ≥5 consecutive days, and completed the IPAQ-E 80+. Spearman’s rho and Bland-Altman plots were used to analyze the validity of IPAQ-E 80+ against accelerometer measures. Analyses were conducted for the separate items sitting, laying down at daytime and nighttime, walking, moderate to vigorous (MV) walking, and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and the summary measures: total inactive time, sedentary time (i.e. lying down at daytime + sitting), total active time, and total MVPA + MV walking.

Results

The IPAQ-E 80+ correlated with the accelerometer measures of total inactive- (r=0.55, p<0.001), sedentary- (r=0.28, p=0.015), walking- (r=0.54 p<0.001) and total active- (r=0.60, p<0.001) times, but not with measures of intensity of walking or physical activity; MV walking (r=0.06, p=0.58), MVPA (r=0.17, p=0.13).

Significance

In this study the IPAQ-E 80+ showed fair to substantial correlations with accelerometers, and it therefore seems able to rank very old people according to levels of PA (total inactive-, sedentary-, and total active time, and walking time). The IPAQ-E 80+ seems promising for use in studies investigating associations between activity behavior and health in this population. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the IPAQ-E 80+ can accurately measure PA intensity.