Concurrent validity between self-reported International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and Fibion accelerometer data among young adults in the UAE

Self-reported physical activity questionnaires (e.g., International Physical Activity Questionnaire, IPAQ) are a cost-effective, time-saving, and accessible method to assess sedentary behaviour and physical activity. There are conflicting findings regarding the validity of self-reported questionnaires in comparison to accelerometer-measured data in a free-living environment. This study aimed to investigate the concurrent validity between self-reported Arabic-English IPAQ short form (IPAQ-SF) and Fibion (Fibion Inc., Jyväskylä, Finland) accelerometer-measured sedentary and physical activity time among young adults. One hundred and one young healthy adults (mean age 20.8 ± 2.4 years) filled in the IPAQ short form (IPAQ-SF) and wore the Fibion device on the anterior thigh for ≥ 600 min per day for 4-7 days. Concurrent validity between the IPAQ-SF and Fibion accelerometer for sitting, walking, moderate activity, and vigorous activity time was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> ) and Bland-Altman plots. Significant weak associations between IPAQ-SF and Fibion measurements were found for total activity time ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> = 0.4; P < 0.001) and for the duration of walking ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> = 0.3; P = 0.01), moderate ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> = 0.2; P = 0.02), and vigorous-intensity activities ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> = 0.4; P < 0.001). However, <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> was not significant ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mi>ρ</mml:mi></mml:math> = - 0.2; P = 0.09) for sitting time. In addition, all the plots of the measured variables showed a proportional bias. A low association and agreement were found between self-reported IPAQ-SF scores and Fibion accelerometer measurements among young adults in the UAE. Adult sedentary and physical activity measurements should be obtained objectively with accelerometers rather than being limited to self-reported measures.