Adaptation and reproducibility of a questionnaire to assess physical activity in epidemiological studies among Yaqui Indians from Sonora, Mexico

Introduction: Due to the benefits of physical activity (PA) for health and the associated risk of physical inactivity with obesity and non-communicable diseases, the evaluation of PA is of great interest in public health. Objective: Was adapt and evaluate the reproducibility of a questionnaire to assess PA in epidemiological studies among Yaqui Indians from Sonora, México. Methods: The participants were 100 Indians from the 9 Yaquis communities, including men and women aged 20 or older. The adaptation phase of the PA questionnaire (PAQ) was done by interviewing 40 Yaquis about their activities related to leisure-time, occupation and transportation. For the reproducibility analysis, the PAQs applied by duplication to 60 adults were evaluated by the Spearman Correlation Coefficient (ρ) and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The level of agreement was evaluated by the Bland-Altman plot. Results: Eighteen leisure time activities, 34 occupational activities, and 5 transportation activities were included in the PAQ. Very strong correlations were found for total leisure-time and occupational activities (ρ=0.92 and ρ=0.88, respectively; p<0.0001), and sedentary behaviors (ρ=0.94; p<0.0001) for the previous 12 months. The Bland-Altman plots indicated high agreement between PAQs. Conclusion: The adapted PAQ had high reproducibility for measuring PA in the Yaqui Indian population. Key Words: Ethnic groups; México; physical activity questionnaire.