Measuring Physical Activity in Children with Cystic Fibrosis: Comparison of Four Methods

• DOI: 10.1123/pes.5.2.125
• Publication Date: 2016-08-10T11:52:47Z
• Authors: David M. Orenstein; Patricia A. Nixon; Richard A. Washburn; Sheryl F. Kelsey
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine

Since physical fitness and activity may affect prognosis in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), it is important to be able to measure physical activity in these individuals. Fifty-two such patients younger than 20 years were studied with two electronic activity monitors (LSI and Caltrac monitors) and two activity recall questionnaires (Paffenbarger’s Harvard Alumni Survey and Kriska’s Physical Activity Survey). Spearman rank correlation was used to examine relationships among activity levels as assessed by these tools. There was significant correlation between 3-day activity levels as assessed by the two electronic monitors at each of three measurement periods, and between the activity questionnaires: Kriska’s questionnaire correlated with Paffenbarger’s survey. The monitors correlated less closely with the questionnaires. In this study, two standard physical activity questionnaires correlate with each other and two electronic monitors also correlate with each other in their estimates of physical activity in patients with CF. Since the monitor-questionnaire correlation was substantially less than the monitor-monitor correlation or the questionnaire-questionnaire correlation, it appears that these types of instruments may capture different aspects of activity in children with CF.