Design and Evaluation of a Computer-Based 24-Hour Physical Activity Recall (cpar24) Instrument

BACKGROUND Widespread access to the Internet and an increasing number of Internet users offers the opportunity of using Web-based recalls to collect detailed physical activity data in epidemiologic studies. OBJECTIVE The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the validity and reliability of a computer-based 24-hour physical activity recall (cpar24) instrument with respect to the recalled 24-h period. METHODS A random sample of 67 German residents aged 22 to 70 years was instructed to wear an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer for 3 days. Accelerometer counts per min were used to classify activities as sedentary (<100 counts per min), light (100-1951 counts per min), and moderate to vigorous (≥1952 counts per min). On day 3, participants were also requested to specify the type, intensity, timing, and context of all activities performed during day 2 using the cpar24. Using metabolic equivalent of task (MET), the cpar24 activities were classified as sedentary (<1.5 MET), light (1.5-2.9 MET), and moderate to vigorous (≥3.0 MET). The cpar24 was administered twice at a 3-h interval. The Spearman correlation coefficient (r) was used as primary measure of concurrent validity and test-retest reliability. RESULTS As compared with accelerometry, the cpar24 underestimated light activity by -123 min (median difference, P difference <.001) and overestimated moderate to vigorous activity by 89 min (P difference <.001). By comparison, time spent sedentary assessed by the 2 methods was similar (median difference=+7 min, P difference=.39). There was modest agreement between the cpar24 and accelerometry regarding sedentary (r=.54), light (r=.46), and moderate to vigorous (r=.50) activities. Reliability analyses revealed modest to high intraclass correlation coefficients for sedentary (r=.75), light (r=.65), and moderate to vigorous (r=.92) activities and no statistically significant differences between replicate cpar24 measurements (median difference for sedentary activities=+10 min, for light activities=-5 min, for moderate to vigorous activities=0 min, all P difference ≥.60). CONCLUSION These data show that the cpar24 is a valid and reproducible Web-based measure of physical activity in adults.