Marathi version of Global Physical Activity Questionnaire: translation, reliability and validation in individuals with metabolic syndrome

Background: Regionally translated version of Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) will help ensure comprehension; cultural relevance. MS is a cluster of conditions that contributes towards cardiovascular diseases. Physical inactivity is one factor that has impact on all of the associated co morbidities. Evaluation of physical activity (PA) will help to implement strategies to overcome burden of physical inactivity and sedentary behavior. Methods: Phase was translation in Marathi was done via forward -backward translation, expert panel discussions and cognitive debriefing interviews. Utmost attention was paid to retain original concept of questionnaire. Phase 2 was psychometric testing and validation in individuals with MS; Purposive sampling. Sample size -50 using: n= Z2.k.(1-p)/E2; z = 1.96, k =1, keeping margin of error as 0.1, ICC of 0.87. Sequence of administration of versions was selected randomly by participants and were administered with gap of 7 days. Participants were instructed to follow same activity pattern they usually practice. Results: Phase 1 following a through item- by- item review, panel reported good agreement between two versions of GPAQ in terms of semantic, conceptual and cultural equivalence. Phase II ICC of 0.998 (95% CI: 0.997-0.999, p<0.001), indicates a very high degree of consistency between repeated administrations. Wilcoxon signed rank test suggested no significant difference in ratings between both versions of GPAQ. Conclusions: Marathi version of GPAQ demonstrated high level of agreement, linguistic equivalence. Translated Marathi version demonstrated acceptable concurrent validity and reliability in individuals with metabolic syndrome. Findings support its use as subjective tool for assessment and surveillance of physical activity and sedentary behavior among Marathi-speaking populations.