EXSC 700/882 Spring 2020: Physical Activity Questionnaire Analysis

This assignment involves completing and analyzing two physical activity questionnaires: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the physical activity questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The student filled out both questionnaires, providing detailed responses regarding their physical activity levels, including moderate and vigorous activities, and muscle-strengthening exercises. The assignment requires the use of the IPAQ scoring protocol to calculate the amount of physical activity obtained and summarizing the results in a table. The student then compares and contrasts the results from the IPAQ with those from the BRFSS, assessing whether they meet the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans for both aerobic activity and muscular strengthening activity. Finally, the student is asked to compare their activity level to others of their age, using recent self-report data.

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Running Head: PHYSICAL EDUCATIONAL
Physical Education
Name of Student
Name of Professor
Course
Date

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BRFSS Questionnaire
Physical Activity Questions (BRFSS 2001-2009) – the color red is my answer.
1. We are interested in 2 types of physical activity - vigorous and moderate. Vigorous
activities cause large increases in breathing or heart rate while moderate activities cause
small increases in breathing or heart rate.
A. Now, thinking about the moderate activities you do in a usual week, do you do
moderate activities for at least 10 minutes at a time, such as brisk walking, bicycling,
vacuuming, gardening, or anything else that causes some increase in breathing or heart
rate? (Circle one)
YES NO If no, skip to question 2
B. How many days per week do you do these moderate activities for at least 10 minutes
at a time?
____7_ days per week
C. On days when you do moderate activities for at least 10 minutes at a time, how much
total time per day do you spend doing these activities?

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__2___ hours per day
__120__ minutes per day
2. A. Now, thinking about the vigorous activities you do in a usual week, do you do
vigorous activities for at least 10 minutes at a time, such as running, aerobics, heavy yard
work, or anything else that causes large increases in breathing or heart rate?
YES NO If no, skip to question 3
B. How many days per week do you do these vigorous activities for at least 10 minutes at
a time?
___7__ days per week
C. On days when you do vigorous activities for at least 10 minutes at a time, how much
total time per day do you spend doing these activities?
__1___ hours per day
__60__ minutes per day

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3. During the past month, how many times per week or per month did you do physical activities
or exercises to STRENGTHEN your muscles? Do NOT count aerobic activities like
walking, running, or bicycling. Count activities using your own bodyweight like yoga,
sit-ups or push-ups and those using weight machines, free weights, or elastic bands.
___3______ Times per week OR
_________ Times per month OR
_________ Never
INTERNATIONAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUESTIONNAIRE (IPAQ)
We are interested in finding out about the kinds of physical activities that people do as part of
their everyday lives. The questions will ask you about the time you spent being physically active
in the last 7 days. Please answer each question even if you do not consider yourself to be an
active person. Please think about the activities you do at work, as part of your house and yard
work, to get from place to place, and in your spare time for recreation, exercise or sport.
Think about all the vigorous and moderate activities that you did in the last 7 days. Vigorous
physical activities refer to activities that take hard physical effort and make you breathe much
harder than normal. Moderate activities refer to activities that take moderate physical effort and

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make you breathe somewhat harder than normal.
PART 1: JOB-RELATED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The first section is about your work. This includes paid jobs, farming, volunteer work, course
work, and any other unpaid work that you did outside your home. Do not include unpaid work
you might do around your home, like housework, yard work, general maintenance, and caring
for your family. These are asked in Part 3.
1. Do you currently have a job or do any unpaid work outside your home?
 Yes
 No Skip to PART 2: TRANSPORTATION
The next questions are about all the physical activity you did in the last 7 days as part of your
paid or unpaid work. This does not include traveling to and from work.
2. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do vigorous physical activities like
heavy lifting, digging, heavy construction, or climbing up stairs as part of your work?
Think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a time.
_____ days per week
 No vigorous job-related physical activity Skip to question 4
3. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing vigorous physical
activities as part of your work?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
4. Again, think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a
time. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do moderate physical activities
like carrying light loads as part of your work? Please do not include walking.

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_____ days per week
 No moderate job-related physical activity Skip to question 6
5. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing moderate physical
activities as part of your work?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
6. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you walk for at least 10 minutes at a time
as part of your work? Please do not count any walking you did to travel to or from
work.
_____ days per week
 No job-related walking Skip to PART 2: TRANSPORTATION
7. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days walking as part of your
work?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
PART 2: TRANSPORTATION PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
These questions are about how you traveled from place to place, including to places like work,
stores, movies, and so on.
8. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you travel in a motor vehicle like a train,
bus, car, or tram?
___7__ days per week
 No traveling in a motor vehicle Skip to question 10

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9. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days traveling in a train, bus, car,
tram, or other kind of motor vehicle?
___3__ hours per day
__180___ minutes per day
Now think only about the bicycling and walking you might have done to travel to and from
work, to do errands, or to go from place to place.
10. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you bicycle for at least 10 minutes at a
time to go from place to place?
_____ days per week
 No bicycling from place to place Skip to question 12
11. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days to bicycle from place to
place?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
12. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you walk for at least 10 minutes at a time
to go from place to place?
_____ days per week
 No walking from place to place Skip to PART 3:
HOUSEWORK,HOUSE MAINTENANCE, AND CARING FOR
FAMILY
13. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days walking from place to
place?
_____ hours per day

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_____ minutes per day
PART 3: HOUSEWORK, HOUSE MAINTENANCE, AND CARING FOR FAMILY
This section is about some of the physical activities you might have done in the last 7 days in
and around your home, like housework, gardening, yard work, general maintenance work, and
caring for your family.
14. Think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a time.
During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do vigorous physical activities like
heavy lifting, chopping wood, shoveling snow, or digging in the garden or yard?
_____ days per week
 No vigorous activity in garden or yard Skip to question 16
15. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing vigorous physical
activities in the garden or yard?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
16. Again, think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a
time. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do moderate activities like
carrying light loads, sweeping, washing windows, and raking in the garden or yard?
___2__ days per week
 No moderate activity in garden or yard Skip to question 18
17. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing moderate physical
activities in the garden or yard?
___1__ hours per day
___60__ minutes per day

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18. Once again, think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes
at a time. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do moderate activities like
carrying light loads, washing windows, scrubbing floors and sweeping inside your
home?
_____ days per week
 No moderate activity inside home Skip to PART 4: RECREATION,
SPORT AND LEISURE-TIME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
19. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing moderate physical
activities inside your home?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
PART 4: RECREATION, SPORT, AND LEISURE-TIME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
This section is about all the physical activities that you did in the last 7 days solely for
recreation, sport, exercise or leisure. Please do not include any activities you have already
mentioned.
20. Not counting any walking you have already mentioned, during the last 7 days, on how
many days did you walk for at least 10 minutes at a time in your leisure time?
_____ days per week
 No walking in leisure time Skip to question 22
21. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days walking in your leisure
time?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day

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22. Think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a time.
During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do vigorous physical activities like
aerobics, running, fast bicycling, or fast swimming in your leisure time?
_____ days per week
 No vigorous activity in leisure time Skip to question 24
23. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing vigorous physical
activities in your leisure time?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
24. Again, think about only those physical activities that you did for at least 10 minutes at a
time. During the last 7 days, on how many days did you do moderate physical activities
like bicycling at a regular pace, swimming at a regular pace, and doubles tennis in your
leisure time?
_____ days per week
 No moderate activity in leisure time Skip to PART 5: TIME SPENT
SITTING
25. How much time did you usually spend on one of those days doing moderate physical
activities in your leisure time?
_____ hours per day
_____ minutes per day
PART 5: TIME SPENT SITTING
The last questions are about the time you spend sitting while at work, at home, while doing
course work and during leisure time. This may include time spent sitting at a desk, visiting

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friends, reading or sitting or lying down to watch television. Do not include any time spent
sitting
in a motor vehicle that you have already told me about.
26. During the last 7 days, how much time did you usually spend sitting on a weekday?
__10___ hours per day
_ 600__ minutes per day
27. During the last 7 days, how much time did you usually spend sitting on a weekend
Day?
__6___ hours per day
__360___ minutes per day
This is the end of the questionnaire, thank you for participating.
IPAQ Scoring Protocol
Work Domain
Walking MET-minutes/week at work = 3.3 * walking minutes * walking days at work
¿ 3.3 ×0 × 0
¿ 0
Moderate MET-minutes/week at work= 4.0 * moderate-intensity activity minutes * moderate-
intensity days at work

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¿ 4.0 × 0 ×0
¿ 0
Vigorous MET-minutes/week at work= 8.0 * vigorous-intensity activity minutes * vigorous-
intensity days at work
¿ 8.0 ×0 × 0
¿ 0
Total Work MET-minutes/week =sum of Walking + Moderate + Vigorous MET-minutes/week
scores at work.
¿ 0+0+ 0
¿ 0
Active Transportation Domain
Walking MET-minutes/week for transport = 3.3 * walking minutes * walking days for
transportation
¿ 3.3 ×0 × 0
¿ 0
Cycle MET-minutes/week for transport= 6.0 * cycling minutes * cycle days for transportation
¿ 6.0 ×0 × 0

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¿ 0
Total Transport MET-minutes/week = sum of Walking + Cycling MET-minutes/week scores for
transportation.
¿ 0+0
¿ 0
Domestic and Garden [Yard Work] Domain
Vigorous MET-minutes/week yard chores= 5.5 * vigorous-intensity activity minutes * vigorous-
intensity days doing yard work (Note: the MET value of 5.5 indicates that vigorous garden/yard
work should be considered a moderate-intensity activity for scoring and computing total
moderate-intensity activities.)
¿ 5.5 ×0 × 0
¿ 0
Moderate MET-minutes/week yard chores= 4.0 * moderate-intensity activity minutes *
moderate- intensity days doing yard work
¿ 4.0 × 2× 60
¿ 480
Moderate MET-minutes/week inside chores= 3.0* moderate-intensity activity minutes *
moderate- intensity days doing inside chores.

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¿ 3.0 ×0 × 0
¿ 0
Total Domestic and Garden MET-minutes/week =sum of Vigorous yard + Moderate yard +
Moderate inside chores MET-minutes/week scores.
¿ 0+ 480+0
¿ 480
Leisure-Time Domain
Walking MET-minutes/week leisure = 3.3 * walking minutes * walking days in leisure
¿ 3.3 ×0 × 0
¿ 0Moderate MET-minutes/week leisure = 4.0 * moderate-intensity activity minutes * moderate-
intensity days in leisure
¿ 4.0 × 0 ×0
¿ 0Vigorous MET-minutes/week leisure = 8.0 * vigorous-intensity activity minutes * vigorous-
intensity days in leisure
¿ 8.0 ×0 × 0
¿ 0Total Leisure-Time MET-minutes/week = sum of Walking + Moderate + Vigorous MET-
minutes/week scores in leisure.

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¿ 0+0+ 0
¿ 0
Total Scores for all Walking, Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activities
Total Walking MET-minutes/week = Walking MET-minutes/week (at Work + for Transport + in
Leisure)
¿ 0+0+ 0
¿ 0
Total Moderate MET-minutes/week total = Moderate MET-minutes/week (at Work + Yard
chores + inside chores + in Leisure time) + Cycling Met-minutes/week for Transport + Vigorous
Yard chores MET-minutes/week
¿ 0+0+ 0+ 480+ 0+0
¿ 480
Total Vigorous MET-minutes/week = Vigorous MET-minutes/week (at Work + in Leisure)
¿ 0+0
¿ 0

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Note: Cycling MET value and Vigorous garden/yard work MET value fall within the coding
range of moderate-intensity activities.
Total Physical Activity Scores
An overall total physical activity MET-minutes/week score can be computed as:
Total physical activity MET-minutes/week = sum of Total (Walking + Moderate + Vigorous)
MET- minutes/week scores.
This is equivalent to computing:
Total physical activity MET-minutes/week = sum of Total Work + Total Transport + Total
Domestic and Garden + Total Leisure-Time MET-minutes/week scores.
As there are no established thresholds for presenting MET-minutes, the IPAQ Research
Committee proposes that these data are reported as comparisons of median values and
interquartile ranges for different populations.
Total physical activity ¿ 0+ 480+0
¿ 480
Summary table

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IPAQ BRFSS

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Job-related PA Moderate PA, minutes/week 840
VPA, minutes/week 0 Vigorous PA, minutes/week 420
VPA, MET-minutes/week 0 Muscle-strengthening activities,
times/week
3
MPA, minutes/week 0 Meet aerobic PA guidelines,
yes/no
No
MPA, MET-minutes/week 0 Meet muscle-strengthening
guidelines, yes/no
Yes
Walking, minutes/week 0
Walking, MET-minutes/week 0
Total work, MET-minutes/week 0
Transportation PA
Travel by motor vehicle, minutes/week 1260
Travel by bicycle, minutes/week 0
Travel by bicycle, MET-minutes/week 0
Travel by walking, minutes/week 0
Travel by walking,
MET-minutes/week
0
Total active transportation, MET-
minutes/week
0
Housework, garden/yardwork
VPA in garden/yard, minutes/week 0

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VPA in garden/yard,
MET-minutes/week
0
MPA in garden/yard, minutes/week 120
MPA in garden/yard,
MET-minutes/week
480
MPA inside home, minutes/week 0
MPA inside home,
MET-minutes/week
0
Total housework/garden/yard, MET-
minutes/week
480
Leisure-time PA
Walking, minutes/week 0
Walking, MET-minutes/week 0
VPA, minutes/week 0
VPA, MET-minutes/week 0
MPA, minutes/week 0
MPA, MET-minutes/week 0
Total leisure-time, MET-minutes/week 0
Total Walking, MET-minutes/week 0
Total Moderate PA, MET-minutes/week 480
Total Vigorous PA, MET-minutes/week 0
Overall Total PA, MET-minutes/week 480
Meet aerobic PA guidelines, yes/no No

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Time spent sitting
Weekday, minutes/day 600
Weekend, minutes/day 360
Summary Report
The IPAQ results are a little lower than those of BRFSS. The reason for this may be that it asks
specific questions about the physical activity routine of an individual. As a result, the IPAQ
results are more conclusive than those of BRFSS (Ainsworth et al., 2006). On the other hand, the
BRFSS questionnaire additionally asks about the anaerobic activities of individuals. IPAQ does
not have questions on the muscular strengthening activities of a person.
My IPAQ results do not meet the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The
guidelines encourage adults to move more and sit less throughout the day. However, my IPAQ
results show that the number of hours I spend sitting is higher than that spent engaging in any
physical activity (Brown et al., 2004). Although my week moderate physical activity is higher
than the recommended values, I do not undertake the required vigorous activity.
For substantial health benefits, the guidelines recommend individuals to do at least two and a
half hours of moderate physical activity a week or around an hour of vigorous physical activity.
The American guidelines encourage adults to do muscle strengthening activities of moderate or
greater intensity involving all muscle groups at least two times a week. My BRFSS value for

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muscle strengthening is three times a week which is higher than that recommended by the
guidelines (Bennie et al., 2020). The guidelines also recommend individuals to engage in over
300 minutes of moderate physical activity a week to achieve desired health benefits of exercise
(Hallal & Victora, 2004). I need to increase the amount of time I engage in moderate activities as
well as to do more vigorous aerobic activities to be considered active enough.
My activity level is much lower than that of people of the same age. This difference is still
mainly due to my low engagement in vigorous physical activity. Therefore, in order to be
considered physically active according to the guidelines, I need to participate more in vigorous
physical activities in a week. However, care should be taken to ensure safe exercising to avoid
risk of injuries. My chosen physical activities should be appropriate for my current level of
fitness and health. I should also aim at increasing the time and intensity of physical activity
gradually over time to meet the recommendations of the guidelines.
References

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Ainsworth, B. E., Macera, C. A., Jones, D. A., Reis, J. P., Addy, C. L., Bowles, H. R., & KOHL
III, H. W. (2006). Comparison of the 2001 BRFSS and the IPAQ Physical Activity
Questionnaires. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 38(9), 1584-1592.
Bennie, J. A., Kolbe-Alexander, T., Seghers, J., Biddle, S. J., & De Cocker, K. (2020). Trends in
Muscle-Strengthening Exercise Among Nationally Representative Samples of United
States Adults Between 2011 and 2017. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 1(aop),
1-7.
Brown, W., Bauman, A., Chey, T., Trost, S., & Mummery, K. (2004). Method: comparison of
surveys used to measure physical activity. Australian and New Zealand journal of public
health, 28(2), 128-134.
Hallal, P. C., & Victora, C. G. (2004). Reliability and validity of the international physical
activity questionnaire (IPAQ). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(3), 556.