Recall of past activity levels in young adults is predictive of adolescent activity levels

Kristi L. Storti, Emily R. Lawrentz, Vincent C. Arena, Robert J. Robertson, Elizabeth F. Nagle, Andrea M. Kriska

Department of Biostatistics, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, USA.
Department of Physical Activity and Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/ojpm.2013.33038                

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether a global physical activity question (GPAq) administered in young adulthood can be used to accurately rank former physical activity levels (PA) relative to peers of the same age and sex during adolescence. Methods: Data were obtained from the Physical Activity in Young Adults Study, a 10- year follow-up study of 12 - 16 year old adolescents. Five hundred twenty-eight young adults, mean age 24.5 (±1.0) years, completed a GPAq regarding current and past (adolescent) PA. GPAq answers were used to determine whether young adults could accurately rank their past (adolescent) PA levels relative to peers of the same age and sex. GPAq responses were compared with actual self-reported PA levels assessed by the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (MAQ-A; collected during adolescence). For adolescent PA, an average of 4 years of activity from the MAQ-A 1990-1993, was used. Results: Regardless of gender, Jonckheere-Terpstra tests for trend (p < 0.0001) suggest significant linear trends across categories of PA level for the MAQ-A. Higher perceived PA tracked with greater past PA activity and lower perceived PA tracked with lower past PA activity. Conclusions: Young adults who classified themselves as more active as an adolescent were found to be relatively more active based upon self-reported activity from recall questionnaires collected during that time. These findings suggest that young adults can reasonably estimate relative PA levels during their adolescent years with GPAq. Global physical activity questions may be valid for the assessment and classification of previous PA levels.

Keywords

Recall; Adolescent; Self-Report; Modifiable Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Siscovick, D.S., Ekelund, L.G., Hyde, J.S., Johnson, J.L., Gordon, D.J. and LaRosa, J.C. (1988) Physical activity and coronary heart disease among asymptomatic hypercholesterolemic men (the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial). American Journal of Public Health, 78, 1428-1431. doi:10.2105/AJPH.78.11.1428
[2]	Sternfeld, B., Cauley, J., Harlow, S., Liu, G. and Lee, M. (2000) Assessment of physical activity with a single global question in a large, multiethnic sample of midlife women. American Journal of Epidemiology, 152, 678687. doi:10.1093/aje/152.7.678
[3]	Kriska, A.M. and Caspersen, C.J. (1997) Introduction to the collection of physical activity questionnaires. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29, S5-S9. doi:10.1097/00005768-199706001-00003
[4]	Aaron, D.J., Storti, K.L., Robertson, R.J., Kriska, A.M. and LaPorte, R.E. (2002) Longitudinal study of the number and choice of leisure time physical activities from mid to late adolescence: implications for school curricula and community recreation programs. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 156, 1075-1080. doi:10.1001/archpedi.156.11.1075
[5]	Anderson, R., Dearwater, S.R., Olsen, T., Aaron, D.J., Kriska, A.M. and LaPorte, R.E. (1994) The role of socioeconomic status and injury morbidity risk in adolescents. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 148, 245-249. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1994.02170030015003
[6]	LaPorte, R.E., Dearwater, S.R., Chang, Y.F., Songer, T.J., Aaron, D.J., Anderson, R.L., et al. (1995) Efficiency and accuracy of disease monitoring systems: Application of capture-recapture methods to injury monitoring. American Journal of Epidemiology, 142, 1069-1077.
[7]	Kriska, A.M. and Caspersen, C.J. (1997) A collection of physical activity questionnaires. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 29, S79-S82. doi:10.1097/00005768-199706001-00003
[8]	Aaron, D.J., Kriska, A.M., Dearwater, S.R., Cauley, J.A., Metz, K.F. and LaPorte, R.E. (1995) Reproducibility and validity of an epidemiologic questionnaire to assess past year physical activity in adolescents. American Journal of Epidemiology, 142, 191-201.
[9]	Jonckheere, A.R. (1954) A distribution-free k-sample test against ordered alternatives. Biometrika, 41, 133-145.
[10]	Terpstra, T.J. (1952) The asymptomatic normality and consistency of Kendall’s test against trend, when ties are present in one ranking. Indagationes Mathematicae, 14, 327-333.
[11]	Iwai, N., Hisamichi, S., Hayakawa, N., Inaba, Y., Nagaoka, T., Sugimori, H., et al. (2001) Validity and reliability of single-item questions about physical activity. Journal of Epidemiology, 11, 211-218. doi:10.2188/jea.11.211
[12]	Schechtman, K.B., Barzilai, B., Rost, K. and Fisher Jr., E.B. (1991) Measuring physical activity with a single question. American Journal of Public Health, 81, 771773. doi:10.2105/AJPH.81.6.771
[13]	Taylor-Piliae, R.E., Fair, J.M., Haskell, W.L., Varady, A.N., Iribarren, C., Hlatky, M.A., et al. (2010) Validation of the Stanford brief activity survey: Examining psychological factors and physical activity levels in older adults. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 7, 87-94.
[14]	Weiss, T.W., Slater, C.H., Green, L.W., Kennedy, V.C., Albright, D.L. and Wun, C.C. (1990) The validity of single-item, self-assessment questions as measures of adult physical activity. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 43, 1123-1129. doi:10.1016/0895-4356(90)90013-F
[15]	Jackson, A.W., Morrow Jr., J.R., Bowles, H.R., FitzGerald, S.J. and Blair, S.N. (2007) Construct validity evidence for single-response items to estimate physical activity levels in large sample studies. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 78, 24-31. doi:10.1080/02701367.2007.10599400
[16]	Bowles, H.R., FitzGerald, S.J., Morrow Jr., J.R., Jackson, A.W. and Blair, S.N. (2004) Construct validity of self-reported historical physical activity. American Journal of Epidemiology, 160, 279-286. doi:10.1093/aje/kwh209