International Physical Activity Questionnaire - IPAQ - Short Form

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 22, 2023

Last Modified: January 05, 2025 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements Millisecond's computerized version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ). The IPAQ (Booth, 2000) is freely available.

Disclaimer:
This script runs Millisecond's best effort attempt to code summary variables such as MET-scores and categorial assessment of physical activity (PAL score) according to the guidelines outlined in 'scoring_protocol.pdf' (downloaded at: https://sites.google.com/view/ipaq/score). Coding may, however, still differ from intended purposes or contain errors. If in doubt, manually score the obtained raw responses.

References

Booth, M.L. (2000). Assessment of Physical Activity: An International Perspective. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 71 (2): s114-20.

Craig, C. L., Marshall, A. L., Sjöström, M., Bauman, A. E., Booth, M. L., Ainsworth, B. E., Pratt, M., Ekelund, U., Yngve, A., Sallis, J. F., & Oja, P. (2003). International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 35(8), 1381–1395. https://doi.org/10.1249/01.MSS.0000078924.61453.FB

More Information As Well As Forms In Several Language Available At:
https://sites.google.com/view/ipaq

Scoring Protocol ('Scoring_Protocol.Pdf'):
https://sites.google.com/view/ipaq/score

Publicly Available Scoring Script In R By M. Ponce-De-Leon:
https://github.com/Mariana-plr/IPAQlong/tree/main ( Millisecond has no further knowledge of the accuracy of the implemented scoring criteria)

Duration

5 minutes

Description

from webpage: "The International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ) comprises a set of 4 questionnaires. Long (5 activity domains asked independently) and short (4 generic items) versions for use by either telephone or self-administered methods are available. The purpose of the questionnaires is to provide common instruments that can be used to obtain internationally comparable data on health–related physical activity."

FOR USE WITH YOUNG AND MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS (15-69 years)

Scoring

Raw Data Comments
If participants are allowed to navigate back and forth on survey pages (default),
it is possible the raw data files store data that are not considered for summary variable analyses.
Example: participant enters 'work related' vigorous hours at 1 hour and 10 minutes (q3a + q3b) but later changes
their answer to question q2 to 'no work related vigorous activities'. In this case, the answer to q2 overrides the
earlier entered responses to q3a+q3b for summary variable analyses (= minutes of work related vigorous activity will be 0)
but the last responses to q3a/q3b are still stored in the raw data file.
To change navigation settings, go to element.survey_long and follow instructions.

Explanation Of Abbreviations
met: Metabolic equivalent of a task
pa: Physical Activity
vpa: Vigorous Physical Activity
mpa: Moderate Physical Activity
pal: Physical Activity Level
dpw: Days per Week exercised
mpd: Minutes per Days exercised

Capped Scores
By default scripts automatically limits number of minutes exercised per day for any of the three categories to 180minutes (3 hours)
for the purpose of computing MET scores
To use uncapped scores, set parameters.useCappedMinutes (section Editable Parameters) to false.

Continues Measure Of Physical Activity (Pa): Met-Minute Scores
From 'scoring_protocol.pdf' (p.3):
"METs are multiples of the resting metabolic rate and a MET-minute is computed by multiplying
the MET score of an activity by the minutes performed. MET-minute scores are
equivalent to kilocalories for a 60 kilogram person."
(MET scores used in this script reported in 'scoring_protocol.pdf', p.7-8)

Categorical Measure Of Physical Activity (Pa)
Criteria to score Physical Activity Level are described in 'scoring_protocal.pdf', p. 8/9
Disclaimer: best guess interpretation of the criteria by Millisecond

Summary Data

File Name: ipaq_short_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
computer.touch 0 = device has no touchscreen capabilities; 1 = device has touchscreen capabilities
computer.hasKeyboard 0 = no external keyboard detected; 1 = external keyboard detected
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
Continues Measure Of Physical Activity (Pa): Met-Minute Scores
metVPA Calculated as = 8.0*dpwVPA*mpdVPACapped* ( this script uses capped MPD values to calculate MET)
metMPA Calculated as = 4.0*dpwMPA*mpdMPACapped
metWalking Calculated as = 3.3*dpwWalking*MPD_walking_capped
metTotal Sum of all MET scores
Categorical Measure Of Physical Activity (Pa)
pal Physical Activity Level (LOW, MODERATE, HIGH)
highCriterium1 1 = participant fulfilled high_criterium1, IF SO (PAL = HIGH); 0 = otherwise
criterium: vigorous-intensity activity on at least 3 days achieving a minimum Total physical activity of at least 1500 MET-minutes/week)
calculation in this script
if (expressions.dpwVPA >= 3 AND expressions.metTotal >= 1500) => return '1' else return '0'
dpwVPA: stores the number of days of vigorous physical activity (>= 10min) reported (if nothing was reported, the data says 'missing data')
metTotal:sum of all MET scores
highCriterium2 1 = participant fulfilled high_criterium2, IF SO (PAL = HIGH); 0 = otherwise
criterium: 7 or more days of any combination of walking, moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity activities achieving a minimum Total physical activity of at least 3000 MET-minutes/week.
Calculation in this script
if (expressions.dpwPA >= 7 AND expressions.metTotal >= 3000) => return '1' else return '0'
dpwPA:sum of (dpwVPA + DPW+MPA + dpwWalking)
metTotal:sum of all MET scores
moderateCriterium1 1 = participant fulfilled moderate_criterium1, IF SO (PAL = MODERATE); 0 = otherwise
criterium: 3 or more days of vigorous-intensity activity of at least 20 minutes per day
Calculation in this script
if (dpwVPA >= 3 AND mpdVPA >= 20) => return '1' else return '0'
dpwVPA: stores the number of days of vigorous physical activity (>= 10min) reported (if nothing was reported, the data says 'missing data')
mpdVPA: stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the vigorous activity on these days
moderateCriterium2 1 = participant fulfilled moderate_criterium2, IF SO (PAL = MODERATE); 0 = otherwise
criterium: 5 or more days of moderate-intensity activity and/or walking of at least 30 minutes per day
Calculation in this script (tested against official Excel files downloaded from: https://sites.google.com/view/ipaq/score)
if (dpwMPAandWALK >= 5 AND expressions.totalMinutes_MPAandWALK/5 >= 30) => return '1' else return '0'
dpwMPAandWALK:the combined DPWs for MPA and walking (simple addition)
totalMinutes_MPAandWALK: sum of the totalMinutes MPA and walking
moderateCriterium3 1 = participant fulfilled moderate_criterium3, IF SO (PAL = MODERATE); 0 = otherwise
criterium: 5 or more days of any combination of walking, moderate-intensity or vigorous intensity activities achieving a minimum Total physical activity of at least 600 MET-minutes/week.
Calculation in this script
if (expressions.dpwPA >= 5 AND expressions.MetTotal >= 600) => return '1' else return '0'
dpwPA:sum of (dpwVPA + DPW+MPA + dpwWalking)
metTotal:sum of all MET scores
Dpw (Days Per Week Physical Exercise) And Mpd (Minutes Per Day Physical Exercise) Per Domain
dpwPA Sum of (dpwVPA + DPW+MPA + dpwWalking)
totalMinutesPA Total number of minutes of physical activity in the last 7 days
dpwVPA Stores the number of days of vigorous physical activity (>= 10min) reported (if nothing was reported, the data says 'missing data')
dpwVPA20min Days Per Week of VPA (vigorous physical activity) of at least 20 minutes per day (used for moderate_criterium1 in this script)
mpdVPA Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the vigorous activity on these days
mpdVPACapped Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the vigorous activity on these days, capped at 180 minutes max (3 hours)
totalMinutesVPA Stores the total reported number of minutes spent on vigorous exercise (NOT based on capped time)
dpwMPA Stores the number of days of moderate physical activity (>= 10 min) reported (if nothing was reported, the data says 'missing data')
mpdMPA Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the moderate activity on these days
mpdMPACapped Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the moderate activity on these days, capped at 180 minutes max (3 hours)
totalMinutesMPA Stores the total reported number of minutes spent on moderate exercise (NOT based on capped time)
dpwWalking Stores the number of days of walking (>= 10min) reported (if nothing was reported, the data says 'missing data')
mpdWalking Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the walking activity on these days
mpdWalking Stores the reported time (in minutes) spent on the walking activity on these days, capped at 180 minutes (3 hours)
totalMinutesWalking Stores the total reported number of minutes spent on walking exercise (NOT based on capped time)
dpwMPAandWALK The combined DPWs for MPA and walking (simple addition)
totalMinutesMPAandWALK Sum of the totalMinutes MPA and walking
Sitting
minSitting The number of minutes spent sitting during the last 7 days

Raw Data

File Name: ipaq_short.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject Participant ID
group Group number
session Session number
build Inquisit version number
Vigorous
q1DPA 1 = participant entered number of days for VIGOROUS PA (see q1_VPAother_response for actual number); 0 = no VIGOROUS PA
q2aDPA Stores the hours per day of VIGOROUS PA
q2bDPA Stores the minutes per day of VIGOROUS PA
total time spent on VIGOROUS PA = (hours*60) + minutes
q2cDPA Stores response to don't know/not sure
Moderate
q3MPA 1 = participant entered number of days for MODERATE PA (see q3MPAother_response for actual number); 0 = no VIGOROUS PA
q4aMPA Stores the hours per day of MODERATE PA
q4bMPA Stores the minutes per day of MODERATE PA
total time spent on MODERATE PA = (hours*60) + minutes
q4cMPA Stores response to don't know/not sure
Walking
q5Walking 1 = participant entered number of days for WALKING (see q5Walkingother_response for actual number); 0 = no WALKING
q6aWalking Stores the hours per day of WALKING
q6bWalking Stores the minutes per day of WALKING
total time spent on WALKING = (hours*60) + minutes
q6cWalking Stores response to don't know/not sure
Sitting
q7aSitting Stores the hours per day of SITTING time during a WEEK DAY
q7bSitting Stores the minutes per day of SITTING time during a WEEK DAY
q7cSitting Stores response to don't know/not sure
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
useCappedMinutes True: If TRUE all reported walking, moderate and vigorous times are capped at
180min (3 hours) per day for the purpose of MET min/week calculations.
false: the uncapped values are used for MET min/week calculations
true
runFeedbackPage True: participants are informed about MET scores and physical fitness category
false: no feedback is provided for participants
true