Subjective instruments applied to quantify physical activity in daily life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD; by alphabetical order)
| Instrument | Author [ref.] | Basic description | Other characteristics |
| Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire | Baecke et al. 55 (adapted by Voorrips et al. 56, and used in Coronell et al. 57 Couillard et al. 58 Saey et al. 59 Serres et al. 60) | The questionnaire includes three basic factors: household activities, sporting activities and physical activity during leisure time excluding sport. The subjects are asked to describe the type of activity, h·week−1 and the period of the year in which the activity was normally performed during the last year. Higher scores mean higher level of physical activity. The original questionnaire 55 was developed for young adults, and it was afterwards adapted for elderly people 56 by including additional questions on household activities. | Self-administered in the original version, and adapted to be applied as personal interview in elderly people. Focus on classifying subjects as having low-moderate- and high-activity level based on duration and energetic costs of activities performed. Has been used in elderly people 56, adults 61, 62, obese subjects 63, and patients with Parkinson's disease 64 and cardiac disease 65, among others. |
| Follick's diary | Follick et al. 44 (adapted and used by Pitta et al. 66) | Originally developed to assess activity time in patients with chronic pain 44, was used in a simplified version by Pitta et al. 66. These authors used only a section in which the patient reports hourly on how much time was spent walking, cycling, standing, sitting and lying in the last hour. Therefore, outcomes consist of time spent in each activity or body position. | Administered in the form of an activity diary, i.e. patients report periodically the time spent in different activities. Focus on reporting time spent in basic activities and body positions. Validity was studied in patients with chronic pain 44 and COPD patients 66. |
| Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (or Survey) (Minnesota LTPA questionnaire, also known as MLTPAQ or MLTPAS) | Taylor et al. 67 (adapted and used by Garcia-Aymerich et al. 68) | The questionnaire provides a checklist with different activity types. Patients report which activities were performed (and for how long) in the past year. Garcia-Aymerich et al. 68 used a simplification of the questionnaire's Spanish version. Patients were asked about the frequency and duration of walking, climbing stairs and any other physical activity in the previous month (and not previous year, as the original). | Administered commonly via personal interview or telephone interview 69. Focus on activities performed during leisure time. Available validation studies include small samples of white, middle age and educated persons 43, black and white females after weight loss 63, patients with arterial occlusive disease 70 and adolescents 71. |
| Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) | Washburn et al. 72 (used in Gosker et al. 73) | Twelve items (with different weights) involving activities performed in daily life. Six of these items are assessed in terms of h·day−1 over a 7-day period; the other six items are scored as 1 = engage in that activity or 0 = did not engage in that activity in the previous 7 days. The sum of all items of the scale results in an index with scores ranging 0–360. Higher score means higher physical activity level in daily life. | Can be administered by phone, mail or personal interview. Focus on activities commonly performed by elderly people by giving more weight to these activities instead of sports. Has been used in the general elderly population 72 and in patients with renal disease 74, among others. |
| Zutphen Physical Activity Questionnaire (ZPAC) | Caspersen et al. 75 (used by Slinde et al. 76) | Subjects report which activities were performed (and for how long) in the past week (for some activities) or month (for other activities). According to the frequency, intensity and duration of these activities, a calculation is performed in order to provide kcal·kg body mass·day−1 as outcome. | Self-administered. Focus is on assessing physical activity energy expenditure and the amount of min·week−1 spent in light, moderate and heavy physical activity in elderly males. The available study included an elderly male Dutch population 75. |
COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.